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[ { "speaker": "Ms. Natalie Pierre", "text": [ "My question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. Ontario is home to people from all over the world. Skilled immigrants bring talent, expertise and drive. They want to work in their chosen professions and contribute to our economy. Sadly, they too often face roadblocks: barriers like licensing delays or difficulty finding jobs in their field. That’s why immigration programs need to work. Programs like the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program help skilled trade workers settle faster. These programs help fill critical gaps in our labour force, especially in areas like health care and the skilled trades.", "Speaker, can the minister please explain how the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program is helping skilled immigrants find jobs in their field and meet Ontario’s labour needs?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Ajax and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "Thank you to the member from Burlington for that important question. The federal government has shattered the consensus on immigration. They have broken a once celebrated and envied system across the world. The reality is, we need a targeted immigration system that prioritizes the most critically in-demand labour that we cannot currently fill.", "The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program is the best tool that the province has to do exactly that. The objective of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program is to ensure Ontario’s economic and labour needs are met, especially for priority sectors such as health care, technology and the skilled trades, including construction. That is why in 2023 the OINP issued over 70% of our nomination allocation to skilled workers in these sectors. OINP is also very effective, with our application processing times ranging from 30 days to 120 days on average—versus the IRCC’s six to 18 months." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The supplementary question." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Natalie Pierre", "text": [ "Thank you to the parliamentary assistant for her response.", "Skilled immigrants come to Ontario ready to work. They have the training, they have the experience and the drive. They want to contribute to our province, support their families and grow our economy, but they need a fair chance.", "We’ve all heard stories of workers facing unfair treatment—some are underpaid, some are overworked and some are misled by bad employers. This hurts workers, it hurts their families and the reputation of our province. Ontario must protect all workers, including skilled immigrants, from exploitation. It’s not enough to attract talent; we must also safeguard their rights.", "Speaker, can the minister please explain what our government is doing to protect skilled immigrants from bad employers and unsafe working conditions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "Thank you to the member from Burlington for that question. We have the crown jewel of immigration systems, a blueprint of what the federal government should follow. Further to that, today we announced that we are cracking down on immigration scams through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program, ensuring more transparency, accountability and tougher penalties for those who think that they can cheat the system. It is unfair for new immigrants to be taken advantage of, and we will continue to advocate for good workers while cracking down on bad actors who try to cheat our system. This is about levelling the playing field, protecting our workers and ensuring Ontario remains a place where workers are treated fairly and honestly.", "We will crack down on bad actors from immigration representatives who violate our OINP to bad employers who put their employees in unsafe conditions. We’re committed to protecting our workers and making Ontario the best place to live and raise a family. We will continue to advocate for our immigration system.", "1150" ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "MPP Jill Andrew", "text": [ "This question is to the Premier. While this government spends upwards of $40 million of taxpayer money on partisan ads patting themselves on the back, seniors on fixed income in my community, like Wendy Winders and Barbara, have both been blocked from accessing OHIP-covered care if they wouldn’t pay upfront fees. Wendy says she had to pay $900 in hidden fees to access her cataract surgery. Barbara says she was blocked from accessing an OHIP-covered eye exam until or unless she paid $85 for a retinal scan. In both cases, these fees were not disclosed up front, Speaker. In fact, one of our seniors said she found out in the waiting room minutes before her procedure.", "My question is to the Premier. Good morning, Premier. Can this government take a moment from their $1,000-a-plate, cash-for-access fundraisers and ensure Wendy, Barbara and others accessing health care aren’t being gouged?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Deputy Premier and Minister of Health." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "To Wendy and Barbara, I’m pretty sure that they would be pleased with some of the changes that we have made through legislation that actually ensure when we have these community-access surgical diagnostic centres—that we have changed the policies to ensure that those are publicly available and they can see what parts are OHIP-funded and what parts are additional if they choose to have.", "But I think it’s really important that the member opposite is suggesting that there is no opportunity to expand community access in surgical and diagnostic. We have over 800 different diagnostic and surgical centres right now. Yes, we are expanding, but I think it’s also important—to quote the Premier, “Its not an either/or.” We’ve also expanded 49 MRIs in the province of Ontario that are in hospitals.", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The government House leader will come to order. The member for Ottawa Centre will come to order.", "Supplementary question." ] }, { "speaker": "MPP Jill Andrew", "text": [ "It’s clear that Wendy and Barbara will have to hold on to hope and a prayer.", "Hospital parking fees, rostering fees, block fees for care—all of these make it difficult and expensive for those who can’t pay to play to access the health care they need. Our communities deserve a fully funded public health care system, Minister and Premier, where all you need to access care is your health card and never your wallet.", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "MPP Jill Andrew", "text": [ "My question to the Premier, if the government will stop talking and listen: When will this government stand up for Ontarians, eliminate these scalping fees and end your scheme on privatizing health care? Shut up and answer my question.", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will take their seats. The Associate Minister for Auto Theft and Bail Reform will come to order. The government House leader will come to order.", "The Minister of Health will reply." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "Respectfully, I think there’s a little bit of a disagreement in that party, because I’ve actually had letters in support of expansions for diagnostic and surgical centres in their communities. There are members in the NDP caucus who seem to understand the value of ensuring that we have more access across Ontario; that people don’t have to drive hundreds of kilometres to get critical cataract care, to get diagnostic services. That’s why we continue to expand MRI, X-ray, CT scans across Ontario, and that’s why we have continued to ensure that the people of Ontario will get their care closer to home because of these expansions that members of your party have been supporting and sending me letters in support of.", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Once again, I’ll remind the members to make their comments through the Chair.", "The member for Toronto St. Paul’s will come to order. The member for Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas will come to order. The Associate Minister for Auto Theft and Bail Reform will come to order." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Graham McGregor", "text": [ "I didn’t say anything." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Oh, yes, you did." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "MPP Andrea Hazell", "text": [ "Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today not just as an MPP but as a mom. My son recently suffered a severe joint dislocation. His coach rushed him to a hospital where they met a cruel reality. My son, in excruciating pain, was told to wait. The wait was unbearable. They drove him to a second hospital where again he waited. Finally, he was seen at the third hospital. This is a reflection of our failing health care system. It mirrors what one might endure in a Third World country, and I can say that with the authority of having lived through both realities.", "Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. It is evident that our health care system is facing serious challenges. So I must ask, how can this Premier continue to support a minister clearly struggling with the critical responsibility of our health care system?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Government side, come to order." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Yakabuski", "text": [ "We will have a defibrillator ready." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke will come to order.", "The Minister of Health." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "I understand as a parent that it is always very stressful when your child ends up in an emergency department and needs care, but I hope the member opposite, the next time she has an opportunity in a budget, in a fall economic statement, will actually support the expansion of the Scarborough General Hospital. When we have investments made with the Scarborough Health Network where we’re expanding services in your own community, that you would actually see the value and importance of that: $50 billion across 50 different hospital builds, whether they are new, expanded or renovations.", "The Scarborough Health Network is, frankly, a community that has been ignored for far too long. We’re making those commitments. We’re making those commitments with an expanded medical school. We’re making those commitments with the Scarborough Health Network, with long-term-care expansions—all of those pieces are benefiting your community and the good people of Scarborough. Stand up for your constituents." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I say to the Minister of Health, I try to do that every day. I try to stand up for my constituents every day.", "Please make your comments through the Chair.", "Supplementary question." ] }, { "speaker": "MPP Andrea Hazell", "text": [ "To the minister: I bleed Scarborough. I’ve been bleeding Scarborough from 2012, and I supported many hospitals in Scarborough.", "Mr. Speaker, it’s been six long years and the—", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Stop the clock. I can’t hear the member who has the floor to ask a question because of the din on this side of the House. I ask the members to come to order.", "Start the clock. The member can continue her question." ] }, { "speaker": "MPP Andrea Hazell", "text": [ "Today is National Child Day, a time when we should be honouring children’s rights, including their fundamental right to health, yet this government has chosen to neglect our children. So listen up. Here are the staggering numbers of children without a family doctor in just a few of your ridings: Mississauga–Malton, 10,996; Mississauga–Lakeshore, 8,446; Parry Sound–Muskoka, 7,265; Etobicoke Centre, 6,204; Etobicoke North 5,735. And, listen up, in Scarborough, the numbers are even worse: 17,365 children without care.", "Mr. Speaker, back to the Premier: You still haven’t answered my question. I’ll ask again because it’s not just me who needs answers; it’s the families of Ontario who are desperately crying out for help." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Once again, I’ll remind members to make their comments through the Chair.", "Interjection." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I’ll ask the Minister of Long-Term Care to come to order.", "Minister of Health." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "Thank you. I’m happy to share some investments that have been made by our government. With the greatest of respect, while you may bleed Scarborough, it’s actually—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I’m going to ask the Minister of Health to make her comments through the Chair." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "Speaker, it’s actually the members in the Progressive Conservative government who got it done for Scarborough. Those investments include TAIBU family health centre. We have a Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities. We have Unison Health and Community Services. I could go on and on.", "There were 78 expansions that happened in February of this year, and we’re already seeing those expansions happening, recruiting and retaining, bringing on brand new patients.", "Speaker, we know that our health care system was under siege under the previous Liberal government. We know that the previous Liberal government cut medical seats that amounted to over—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Thank you.", "Interjection." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Ottawa South will come to order.", "The next question." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. John Jordan", "text": [ "My question is for the Associate Minister of Small Business.", "Small businesses are the backbone of our communities and Ontario’s economy, driving innovation and creating good jobs.", "Last month, we celebrated Small Business Month in our province. I visited businesses in my riding of Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston and heard about their successes, thanks to the positive business environment our government has fostered.", "1200", "However, many small businesses still face challenges such as high operating costs, labour shortages and adapting to new technologies.", "On top of these challenges, the Trudeau-Crombie carbon tax is making things more expensive.", "Can the associate minister outline what steps our government is taking to address the concerns of small business owners?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Nina Tangri", "text": [ "I want to thank the member from Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston for the important question and the amazing work he is doing to support small businesses in his riding.", "Speaker, our government understands that small businesses are critical drivers of innovation and job creation in Ontario.", "That is why I’ve been travelling the province, holding round tables with small business owners and stakeholders in diverse sectors—manufacturing, retail, agriculture, technology, and more—to hear directly from them. We want to ensure we’re aware of their pressing challenges, from rising costs to digital information. While many businesses have seen success as a result of our government’s actions, we also know there’s more to be done. These conversations and feedback will help inform our policy decisions, including our upcoming small business success strategy.", "But one thing is clear, Speaker: The Trudeau-Crombie carbon tax is hurting small businesses and needs—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Supplementary question." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Jordan", "text": [ "Thank you to the minister for outlining the valuable work being done through these round tables.", "I’m proud to be part of a government that stands against the harmful, job-killing Trudeau-Crombie carbon tax and that knows the importance of small business.", "Speaker, with economic and technological advancements being a constant feature of our world, small businesses must adapt and innovate to stay competitive and satisfy consumer preferences.", "That’s why, in addition to listening to business owners, it’s critical that our government addresses challenges that small businesses are facing.", "Can the associate minister highlight the specific initiatives our government has implemented to address issues raised by small businesses regarding technological adoption and competitiveness?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Nina Tangri", "text": [ "Thank you again to the member for the question.", "Speaker, our government is committed to providing practical and meaningful support to Ontario’s small businesses.", "One key initiative is our $10-million investment into the Digitalization Competence Centre program, which is delivered through the Ontario Centre of Innovation and is projecting thousands of jobs created and nearly $400 million in increased sales and revenue from this investment. The DCC program serves as Ontario’s premier knowledge centre focused on driving the digital transformation of our SMEs. It helps businesses adopt digital technologies and modernize their operations to remain competitive in an increasingly digital marketplace.", "From digital training workshops to support for technology adoption, we’re equipping small business owners with the tools and resources they need to adapt, grow and succeed.", "Our government will always be focused on investing in tools and supports that will empower—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Thank you.", "The next question." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Sandy Shaw", "text": [ "Speaker, the Minister of Health should know that Hamilton-area hospitals serve over two and a half million patients, and they are now facing a funding shortfall of $136 million. This is a direct result of this government’s health care underfunding and privatization agenda.", "We know hospital workers are already overworked and dangerously understaffed. Programs are already being cancelled—like cancer studies that once were the lifeline for patients who have run out of any treatment options. Hospitals have also run out of options, and the minister knows full well that this is a crisis and that patients’ lives are being put at risk.", "So, my question to the minister: How are you going to fix this?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Please make your comments through the Chair.", "The Minister of Health." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "Speaker, I know you do this—I know you speak directly to your hospital CEOs.", "It’s unfortunate that the member opposite didn’t actually pick up the phone and talk to the Juravinski Hospital CEO, like I did earlier this week. In fact, they are hiring right now because they want to expand the number of cancer pathways and treatments.", "With the greatest of respect, when I went with the Minister of Sport and with MPP Donna Skelly last week and announced that we are expanding pediatric ICU capacity at the Juravinski Hospital—those are the investments that we are making. To suggest that the Juravinski Hospital system is doing anything other than exceptional service is really a disservice to her community and her constituents.", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas will come to order. The member for Hamilton Mountain will come to order.", "The supplementary. The member for Timiskaming–Cochrane." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Vanthof", "text": [ "My question is to the Minister of Health.", "Hospitals throughout the north are also struggling. We do talk to our hospital CEOs.", "For example, Blanche River Health runs two hospital sites. Their deficit, right now, is 12%. What causes that deficit? A ballooning cost of agency health care workers, which was caused by Bill 124.", "Agency health care workers are a lot more expensive in the north. Even when the government tried to provide compensation for 124, it only covered 75% of that cost.", "My question to the Minister of Health: For Blanche River Health and for the other hospitals across the north, what does she suggest they cut to make up that deficit? She knows it’s there. What do they cut—or is she going to make up that deficit?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will please take their seats.", "The Minister of Health." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "Through a pandemic, through a rebuilding of our hospital system left, frankly, decimated by Liberals, propped up by the NDP, we’ve had the hospitals’ backs. We’ve had two consecutive years of 4% annual budget increases. We have always worked directly with our hospital partners to make sure that we are part of the solution. We continue to work with them actively now as they start to see those first- and second-quarter numbers. We will continue to do that.", "I will say, because of the investments that we have been making in nursing and in primary care, we are seeing a stabilization of the use of temporary staffing agencies. We want to continue on that pathway, and we will have our hospital partners as part of those conversations.", "Interjection." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Hamilton Mountain is warned.", "The next question." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Tyler Allsopp", "text": [ "My question is for the Minister of Sport. Sports play a significant role in our lives. They bring people together. They inspire young athletes. They build community spirit.", "But sports also do something else that’s very important: They bring money into our province. Every time Ontario hosts a big sporting event, our hotels fill up, which we saw in Quinte West in October, when we hosted the Toyota U-17 soccer nationals. Our restaurants get busy. People spend money in local shops. These events create jobs and boost tourism. In fact, sports are more than just games; they are a smart investment. But some people don’t see that. They don’t understand the value of these events. They don’t see how sports help grow our economy.", "Speaker, can the minister please explain how sports boost Ontario’s economy and why it’s essential to keep investing in them?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Neil Lumsden", "text": [ "I appreciate the question—especially, in the sport world, coming from a rookie. Well, you know what I mean.", "You’re absolutely right; our government is working towards maximizing sport in our province.", "Interjection." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Neil Lumsden", "text": [ "A rookie here—I know you’re not a rookie across the sport. You know what I mean. You can’t be in sport and get your feelings hurt. It can’t happen, all right? It’s just not allowed to happen.", "Mr. Speaker, I apologize, through you, of course, for the rookie comment.", "Sports is a huge economic driver. I’m going to outline a few major events that have taken place in Ontario. The 2024 RBC Canadian Open saw an economic impact of $86 million. It was at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club, by the way. The Honda Indy, this past year, saw an impact of $53 million. The 110th Grey Cup, not to be confused with the one that just happened, but the previous year’s in Hamilton—part of the festivities were in Niagara Falls—had an economic impact of $75 million.", "Let me also be clear—", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Neil Lumsden", "text": [ "Good teamwork.", "The point is, the impact is massive, and we have to continue to do things like that because it drives the economy. It impacts small, medium and large businesses, and we care about them all in this party." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The supplementary question." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Tyler Allsopp", "text": [ "When big sports events come to town, everyone benefits. Local businesses see more customers. Hotels get booked. Restaurants are packed. But these events don’t happen by accident. They need support. They need funding.", "Since 2018, our government’s support for sports has brought millions of dollars back to Ontario. But, sadly, the Liberal and NDP members don’t seem to get it. They show up for the photo ops, but when it’s time to vote for funding, they say no. That hurts our communities. It hurts local businesses.", "Speaker, can the minister please tell us more about the impacts of local sport-hosting events and what they mean to communities across Ontario?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Neil Lumsden", "text": [ "When we talk about winners in sports, we usually talk, in golf, about one winner; in football, one winner; in other sports—driving, the Indy—there’s one winner.", "When we talk about sports in our province, there are multiple winners; there’s not just one winner. It’s small, medium and large businesses. It’s the people who participate. It’s the people in this Legislature who should take the opportunity to allow that to grow within each of your communities, because what you are doing, if you do that, is building up small business and creating a great culture around sport, and that needs to happen. We need to be better at that so that there’s never one winner; there are multiple winners. That’s what we focus on—multiple winners within our community and within the sport community." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Thornhill has informed me that she has a point of order." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Laura Smith", "text": [ "Thank you, Mr. Speaker.", "Please join me in welcoming, just outside the doors on the first level, 96-year-old Royal Canadian Navy veteran Richard Ratcliffe. I’m going to be joining him for lunch." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "There being no further business, this House stands in recess until 1 p.m.", "The House recessed from 1212 to 1300." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I beg to inform the House that today the Clerk received the report on intended appointments dated November 20, 2024, of the Standing Committee on Government Agencies. Pursuant to standing order 110(f)(9), the report is deemed to be adopted by the House.", "Report deemed adopted." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.", "First reading agreed to." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Would the minister like to briefly explain his bill?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Mike Harris", "text": [ "I’ll try to be as brief as I can, Mr. Speaker, but I did want to say thank you. The proposed Cutting Red Tape, Building Ontario Act, 2024, part of our broader fall 2024 red tape reduction package, contains proposals from 14 ministries, and it includes 27 schedules. This legislation, if passed, will establish measures to help build a stronger economy, save time, keep costs down and improve service delivery for businesses and the people of Ontario.", "If you’ll indulge me for a second, as it is my first government bill, being able to introduce that here today, I did want say a huge thank you to my team at the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction in my office and also in our officials’ office as well for all the hard work that they’ve done to put this together. Fourteen different ministries, Speaker—it is not easy, but we are getting it done for the people of Ontario." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Sandy Shaw", "text": [ "I have a petition here entitled “Stand Up for Local Conservation Authorities.” I would say, just like all our communities across Ontario, people are very concerned about wetlands, and they’re concerned about their natural spaces, and the fact that we are allowing developers to dig, build and excavate without oversight from conservation authorities is a particular concern for people.", "I would say now that the very fact that the Royal Botanical Gardens, the RBG, has been forced to lay off 15 employees and the RBG is responsible for such beautiful natural areas that run along Cootes Paradise—it’s a protected area, it’s a beautiful area, and the fact that now we are losing staff that will help to preserve this, not just for us but for future generations.", "So I really think that this is an important petition. We see a government that has made reckless and harmful changes to conservation authorities. We also see this government that has let wetlands move out of protection, has watered down environmental protections and doesn’t seem to be concerned, as most people are, with the preservation of our natural green heritage.", "I will add my name to this petition, Mr. Speaker, and I’ll be happy to pass it to Charlotte to take to the table." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Further debate? I recognize the member for Kiiwetinoong." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Sol Mamakwa", "text": [ "Meegwetch, Speaker.", "Remarks in Anishininiimowin.", "It’s always an honour to be able to stand up for the people of Kiiwetinoong. Kiiwetinoong is a very unique riding. Kiiwetinoong is 294,000 square kilometres, with 31 First Nations and four municipalities. And out of those 31 First Nations, 24 are fly-in First Nations.", "I know this government has named this bill the Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act. I’m not sure how this bill will make the First Nations, will make the communities in the north stronger or safer. Because one of the things that it does is that it ignores the truth. It ignores the evidence—the evidence provided from within the government itself. An example could be safe consumption sites. But also, it disregards the solutions put forward by communities themselves.", "There’s so much to talk about. We all know this is a wedge bill, and I’m going to talk about that a little bit.", "Yesterday, I had leaders, community members, leadership from Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg, also known as Pic Mobert First Nation. I want to acknowledge my colleague the Solicitor General, who put the bill forward. When the chief and council—they were right up there; they were in my office—of Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg were here at Queen’s Park, just yesterday, they declared a state of emergency in their community because of the crisis in public safety, because of the crisis in policing. Mr. Speaker, the situation in their community is dire.", "One of the things that happened yesterday too is the Solicitor General, along with the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, cancelled a meeting with the chief and council—very last minute. And it was unable to be rescheduled for later on yesterday, while the chief and council were still here in Toronto. Just imagine the cost to come to Queen’s Park, to come to Toronto, to try to come up with a solution, to work together. And yet we are here today talking about safer and stronger communities.", "The leadership of Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg pointed out in their press conference that the unsafe situation on the First Nation, on the reserve, would not be accepted or tolerated anywhere off-reserve in Ontario. Anywhere else in the province, the government would already have ensured the community is adequately resourced with police officers to bring the violence and the criminal activities under control.", "1310", "Speaker, as First Nations, as reserves, we live under a system of oppression. We live under the systems of colonialism and racism, and what’s going on here right today is exactly what’s going on.", "The leadership is already on their way back to their community.", "Again, I say it’s not under control in this community, in this reserve, in this First Nation, Netmizaaggamig, where for years they have been experiencing drug trafficking by gangs from Toronto, addictions and mental health struggles, sex trafficking. But the police presence is still almost non-existent. For example, a young man was beaten and held at gunpoint. A call to emergency responders for help was not responded to for four hours—four hours.", "Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg knows the solutions to the public safety crisis in their own community, in their own reserve, in their own First Nation, but they need more resources if they’re going to implement these solutions themselves. What they are asking for is accountability in policing, in justice and for local laws to be enforced quickly and consistently to curb the intense organized crime and violence. One of the things that they’re asking for is they’re asking for improved funding for mental health services in the community. For example, they need to see greater investment in local detox, treatment and aftercare.", "All in all, all they’re asking for is to be treated equitably. This government of Ontario needs to stop having different standards for safety. Pic Mobert First Nation—Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg—and all First Nations, for that matter—that they have other parts in Ontario.", "You have to remember, as well, this Bill 223 makes amendments to the Community Safety and Policing Act. This is the same Community Safety and Policing Act that the Chiefs of Ontario are bringing the government to court over because the act says, “Adequate and effective policing does not include,", "“(a) the enforcement of municipal or First Nation bylaws, other than prescribed bylaws.”", "The Canadian Human Rights Commission has described discrimination as “an action or a decision that treats a person or a group unfairly or negatively for reasons such as their race, age or disability.”", "There’s no question about this. The deliberate and the explicit exclusion of First Nation laws from being enforced under the Community Safety and Policing Act is discriminatory and needs to be changed to ensure that First Nations laws are respected and acknowledged—not only that, that they are enforced.", "I want to jump onto something else. The Minister of Health stated, very clearly, “There will be no further safe injection sites in the province of Ontario under our government.”", "Speaker, Ms. Mskwaasin Agnew is a member of Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction who told CBC News, “Harm reduction is sacred and it is an integral part of the health and well-being of many Indigenous people’s lives.” Regarding the closures of supervised consumption spaces, Ms. Agnew said, “We will see an overrepresentation of Indigenous people paying the price.”", "Speaker, one of the 10 safe drug consumption sites that this province is forcing to close is in Thunder Bay. It is called Path 525, and it’s operated by the NorWest Community Health Centres. Path 525 is only the safe consumption site in Thunder Bay. There will be no alternative space when it’s forced to close. That’s probably the only one in northwestern Ontario.", "Vanessa Tookenay, a member of the Fort William First Nation who is now in recovery, told CBC’s Sarah Law that, in the past, she overdosed a couple of times at Path 525, and then this is what she said: “Had I not been there, I wouldn’t be alive.” These are her words.", "Speaker, an internal document from this very government’s staff flags that limiting access to harm reduction and overdose prevention services has a high risk of having a high number of negative impacts, including death.", "I want to talk about where the bill talks about the Sex Offender Registry. I want to talk about some of the issues that we face in northwestern Ontario. Every now and then, I’ll bring up a former OPP officer, a former Anglican minister and a former Boy Scout leader who is living today. His name is Ralph Rowe. He is one of the most prolific pedophiles in Canada. Where I come from, he abused over 500 boys—where I come from. I know this bill, but he’s still out walking. He’s still living. He hasn’t changed his name. It talks about addressing the Sex Offender Registry, and it has an impact. One of the biggest causes in Kiiwetinoong of mental health struggles and intergenerational trauma is because of this man. I know this government likes to talk big about being tough on crime, but still, one of the biggest criminals in Ontario is still walking freely.", "1320", "I want to know, why is Ralph Rowe still free? Why doesn’t Canada, why doesn’t Ontario know about Ralph Rowe and the crimes he committed against young First Nations men, children in the north as young as five years old? At that time—in the 1970s, in the 1980s—Ralph Rowe was a trusted person. As I said before, he had positions of authority with the Boy Scouts, the Anglican church, OPP. And he had a float plane, a ski plane. He had full access. All these institutions were complicit in what happened in northern Ontario.", "In 1994, Ralph Rowe struck a plea agreement with the crown in that there are certain crimes that the crown can be prevented from seeking additional imprisonment for if they occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. Some crimes were even more serious than the ones from the plea agreement. He was sentenced to three years in 2007, and subsequently to a concurrent year in 2009. In 2012, he served a two-year conditional sentence under house arrest after making a guilty plea. In October 2023, the court approved a $13-million settlement in a class action lawsuit against Scouts Canada, the Anglican Diocese of Kiiwetinoong and Ralph Rowe.", "I’m going to quote this gentleman: “My heart and soul screamed out in agony, crying, so lonely, scared, sick, trembling in pain.” These are the words of John Fox, one of the survivors of Ralph Rowe. When I went to see him last month, he talked about the terrible impacts of Ralph Rowe’s abuse on his life, on his mental health and the choices that he made.", "For a time, John sold drugs, alcohol, weed—whatever he can do. That’s what he told me. And this is what he said to me: “I was just thinking, well,” eff “you God, you want to do this? Then fine. And I wanted to hurt God. So how do you hurt God? You hurt his people.” And that’s why he sold drugs for 20 years, sold booze. But today, John is in a good place. He’s doing much better.", "Ralph Rowe took so much from so many people with his crimes. One of the things John Fox said is, “I have seen so many poor”—where is the justice for the survivors of Ralph Rowe, for their families? This is all I have to say about 223 today. Meegwetch." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Mr. Tom Rakocevic)", "text": [ "Questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mrs. Robin Martin", "text": [ "Thank you to the member for his comments. Certainly, we all are concerned about how to deal with these very, very challenging issues that are everywhere in society and how to help people best.", "I think the difference is, we have maybe different views of what the priority should be. Having seen what happened at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, Peter Tabuns said the shooting there caused people to question the presence of the site for drug users, and many people fear that the presence of the site attracts drug dealers. This was before the arrest of an employee at that site for their alleged involvement with drug dealing.", "My question is: Do you understand the concerns that your colleague Peter Tabuns has for his constituents and the concerns that people have for children and ordinary people just walking by a site?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Sol Mamakwa", "text": [ "When we talk about Ontario, Ontario is a very big place. The only time I come to Toronto is—I go to my apartment, I go to Queen’s Park and that’s it. I don’t spend much time with what’s going on here.", "But there’s a lot of stuff happening in northern Ontario, in the riding of Kiiwetinoong. As I mentioned, I represent four municipalities. I represent 31 First Nations. Out of those 31 First Nations, 24 of those First Nations are fly-in First Nations. The amount of drugs, the amount of suicides that I see—I think the youngest funeral of a girl that died by suicide was 11 years old. That’s the reality in the north; that’s the reality in Kiiwetinoong. I think sometimes the people who make the decisions here do not understand who we are in the north. Meegwetch." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Mr. Tom Rakocevic)", "text": [ "The member for Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Sandy Shaw", "text": [ "I want to thank the member from Kiiwetinoong. Time and time again, we have all sat here and watched as he brings truth to this House, and time and time again, we have seen the government make the choice to ignore these difficult truths.", "He is representing his people, who only want what we would all want, which is fair, equitable and just treatment. The fact that there was leadership here from the Anishinabek, and the minister of mental health and addictions and the Solicitor General chose to snub them and to turn their backs, is shameful.", "Now that this member has shared with all of us the horrific crimes of Ralph Rowe, I want to know, through the member: What is this government going to do to set these intergenerational harms and traumas right?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Sol Mamakwa", "text": [ "Meegwetch to the member, my colleague, for the question. I think in one of their statements specifically for Pic Mobert First Nation, they had specific requests. I think the policing approach would not work. They have a different-tier approach to policing, and that’s what they’re asking for. They’re asking for mental health services.", "1330", "Again, I’ve been here about six and a half years or so, and I bring the stories of what’s going on in Kiiwetinoong. I bring the truth of what’s going on in Kiiwetinoong. There are just far too many needless deaths and unnecessary suffering that is happening. We need to come together. At least hear us, at least hear the people who are crying for help in the north, not just the people that are your people, not just the ridings that are blue. We are people too." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Andrew Dowie", "text": [ "I want to thank the member opposite for his comments on the bill and the consequences of such. I had in my region, as well, a consumption treatment site that closed. Even though I did have a chance to speak to so many involved, I’m trying to reconcile how the cycle of addiction is broken by the supply of drug paraphernalia and a location in which to consume. How do you separate the drug from the user so they can pursue a path to recovery? I’m hoping the member opposite might be able to share how that’s achieved through this consumption treatment site." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Sol Mamakwa", "text": [ "Meegwetch to the member opposite for the question. Sometimes we try to deal with issues downstream. Sometimes it’s so much better to address things in an upstream way, like why are people doing drugs. In our community, there is so much intergenerational trauma. I just spoke about the Ralph Rowe intergenerational trauma, where this Anglican minister, this supposed Cub leader, this former OPP officer—who was a white man who had a float plane or a ski plane to access all these First Nations in northern Ontario, who abused over 500 boys in the north. We lost a lot of them and we still continue to live that from the intergenerational trauma. What it leads to is the addictions, the mental health. I think, again, we need to go back to upstream solutions." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Joel Harden", "text": [ "I want to thank the member from Kiiwetinoong as well. I agree with what the member from Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas said. There is profound truth you always bring.", "But something I feel that many people don’t recognize in respect to you, which I do and I know members of our caucus do, is that you were a professional health promoter before you came here. I’m thinking about victims’ services and I’m thinking of the lack of support in this particular bill to offer resources to the north, to Indigenous communities. I’m thinking about the children who are brought to my city, dislocated from their communities, who suffer and, in the most tragic instances, decide to take their own lives.", "I’m wondering if you have advice for the government about how the bill could be amended so those upstream resources could be invested in Kiiwetinoong, so youth and their families could have hope?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Sol Mamakwa", "text": [ "Before I became an MPP, I did a lot of health policy work with the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents the 49 First Nations in northern Ontario. When we talk about safety, when we talk about adding what needs to be able to say—I think health transformation in northern Ontario needs to happen. Before the arrival of the settlers, as First Nations people, as the first peoples of these lands, we always had our health system. We never had hospitals. I think that’s one of the things: We need to be able to bring services closer to home, whether it’s health care—when we talk about these health services, when we talk about mental health.", "One of my goals when I was a health adviser, I wanted to eliminate suicide in Nishnawbe Aski Nation territory. I didn’t want to just cut 20%. I wanted to eliminate suicide in NAN territory, even if it took 50 years, if it took 100 years. But that was always the goal. Meegwetch." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "We don’t have time for further questions.", "We’ll now move on to further debate." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Aislinn Clancy", "text": [ "I’m happy to be here today to speak to you a bit about my thoughts about the current bill. I will focus on the CTS part of the legislation.", "A CTS site exists in my riding. The community came together—city, health care providers, community—to put that in place with support of the daycare centre across the street.", "I’m here to share with you today that my community resoundingly continues to support the CTS being there. The city of Kitchener passed two motions, with regional council, labour organizations, health care, medical staff, the child care centre across the way, faith communities, citizens, neighbours, students from university all coming together with unanimous support for the CTS site in my community.", "Yes, we need these HART hubs. I appreciate the additional funding. I think we can all agree, across all parties, that addiction treatment funding and mental health treatment funding is needed. We need that more than ever. But not at the expense of harm reduction, which is statistically and evidence-based shown to save lives.", "Some 22,000 people have died from an opioid or drug overdose since this government came into office. One death in every two and a half days takes place in my community. It is not because of this drug policy. At our CTS site, zero deaths have taken place. So I ask this government if they could please start by following the advice of, “Not about us without us.”", "In this document, I don’t see evidence—and I don’t see the voices of the people working on the front lines. Just the other day, the Working Centre had me over. They had outreach workers around the table. They were sobbing, they were broken. These are front-line workers who are burnt out. They are falling apart. They remember the times during COVID when people were dying at record pace from overdoses and they say, “I can’t go back there.”", "I had a young woman—she’s in her twenties, she had her shirt on saying, “November comes at the same time every year,” because that’s about it being cold and not having enough shelter beds. She said, “I can’t go back there. I can’t go back there where more and more of my clients die.”", "Imagine you all as nurses, business owners, see all your customers die. So imagine as a family member, we see people—maybe those in our family have gotten a diagnosis. Maybe they got a cancer diagnosis that says, “You’re stage 4; you have a few months to live.” Imagine our own government giving thousands of people that news, that on March 31, you will die.", "Unfortunately, folks who use drugs come forward and say, “Aislinn, I will be dead on April 1.” How do I sit with someone in my constituency office with that news, that they face death because this is life-saving health care that is being removed from them?", "This, we know, is kind of a bit of smoke and mirrors for the fact that we are failing on housing. We know that housing is health care. More and more, when I dig into why we’re facing this opioid crisis—we know there has been a massive amount of evidence that talks about the pharmaceutical companies that are enriching themselves for decades now, benefiting and profiteering off of these addictions that have been created from well-meaning, working Ontarians.", "We need to start pointing the finger in the right direction. We need to be providing the supports like housing, which we know is health care. If you spend one week without shelter, we know that your well-being goes into the garbage. Quickly, your mental health deteriorates and you run the risk of exacerbating your addictions or having addictions. So it’s important that we recognize the need for housing.", "Even at the University Health Network they saw this: 55 of their patients were responsible for 4,000 hospital visits. Think of that—it’s staggering. Now, they see that they provide supportive housing to those 55 individuals to alleviate the pressure on our health care system. I think we need to heed the warnings that we run the high risk—by reducing access to harm reduction and overdose support, it will result in increased emergency department visits, health impacts, overdose and death.", "We know Indigenous, Black and low-income individuals may be more adversely impacted as they face higher barriers to health care, and for Indigenous populations, disproportionately higher rates of opioid-related deaths.", "1340", "So we need to look at health care being for every individual, and if folks aren’t getting the health care they need, we need to ask why. Instead of kicking out the rungs on the ladder that lead people to thrive, we need to be building more rungs on the ladder to ensure every single person has access to a better life in Ontario." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "It’s now time for questions." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Laura Smith", "text": [ "I listened to the member opposite talking about different steps. One of the things that this bill recognizes, that these offenders under Christopher’s Law—these heinous individuals who commit crimes against children so terrible that I can’t repeat them—they also go on to make application to change their name and hide their identity and go back into the communities.", "I was just wondering if the member thinks that this legislation is positive, given these are positive steps to stop these offenders from making application to change their name." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Aislinn Clancy", "text": [ "Thank you for the question. Of course, this is an important step, but I will remind the government that prevention is better. We want to prevent someone from being sexually abused as a child.", "In Ontario, I know of—this is just what I know of—three federal programs and one provincial program that are funded to reduce people’s recidivism. They’re data-proven programs like circles of support that ensure that offenders don’t reoffend. They have no funding. They no longer exist. If we truly want to protect the vulnerable from being offended sexually, from being abused sexually, we need to ensure that all four of these programs are funded again and we ensure that every—whether they’re young, adult, convicted or not—get the help they need to ensure they no longer are at risk of offending and abusing a young child sexually." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Sandy Shaw", "text": [ "To the MPP for Kitchener Centre: I want to share that we on this side of the House—that bill—protecting children from sexual predators, it makes sense. So much of this, almost all of this bill, makes sense, but why have they put in this bill schedule 4, which essentially withdraws any kind of treatment for people? My sense is that this government doesn’t understand that these people seeking treatment, they’re professionals, they’re our mothers, they’re brothers, like the member Windsor West talked about, who are suffering from pain from an accident.", "So we feel that this bill is supportable but that they should withdraw schedule 4 and have a whole rethink on this, because the harm that they are doing, the deaths that we are going to see—I don’t think they understand the damage that they’re causing by withdrawing any kind of treatment for people." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Aislinn Clancy", "text": [ "I think it’s unfortunately a political strategy. I hate that we politicize people’s lives. I want to work across party lines with every party in this House. I believe that there are good people all across, and I know that this is hard to hear, because I know that maybe many in the government don’t want to see people die. I know they don’t want to see people come into harm’s way. I think you’re caring individuals that care for people’s families, care for good health care. I believe in you, and I’m hoping you’ll stand up for that, because I don’t like to feel so divided, and I don’t like creating a bill that puts us in a place that says we support something that encourages sex abuse. That’s just an awful thing to say about anyone in this House.", "So I don’t like these things being put together. I think it was a tactic, and I don’t think we should be playing politics with people’s lives." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mrs. Robin Martin", "text": [ "Thank you to the member for her comment. I can say that I’m pretty certain that everyone in this House cares about the lives of Ontarians and Ontarians who are struggling, and wants to find the best solutions.", "In my former role as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health, we had started with a new kind of consumption treatment site focused on treatment, and the issue, I was told by the experts, was that you have to come to a consumption site every time—that’s the only way you get saved there—and that the average patient needs to use it four or six times a day and only comes to the consumption site once. So how is that protecting people?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Aislinn Clancy", "text": [ "Because I have talked to the people who work there and I’ve talked to the people who use the sites—they tell me that this saves their lives, and the data says that. I live in this neighbourhood. These are my neighbours. Before the site came into place, I found needles on my street. Since then, the peer support workers, because they respect their neighbours, scour throughout the community. I’m worried that that daycare centre across the street is going to find dead bodies and needles. Those don’t happen right now.", "So, with all due respect, I agree we need more investment in addictions and mental health supports, wholeheartedly, but I think the data and the people I spoke to that use these sites—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "It’s now time for further debate." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Pinsonneault", "text": [ "It is a privilege to rise today as a member of provincial Parliament for Lambton–Kent–Middlesex, representing a vibrant and resilient rural community. In my capacity as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Rural Affairs, I have the honour of bringing forward the concerns, values and priorities of rural Ontario to this esteemed chamber.", "Today, I’m here to speak about the Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act. This legislation amplifies the principles that guide our government: the pursuit of safer communities, robust economic systems and an enhanced quality of life for every resident in Ontario. This bill is comprehensive in its scope and bold in its vision. It addresses critical issues, including auto theft, reckless driving, fraud prevention and regulation of commercial vehicles, all while ensuring that Ontario’s rural and urban residents alike benefit from the result of improvements in public safety.", "Public safety is not a luxury; it is a necessity. It is the bedrock upon which communities, whether urban or rural, thrive. For more rural communities like those in Lambton–Kent–Middlesex, safety takes on a special significance. In these communities, where distances between neighbours can be measured in kilometres and access to emergency services can take longer than in urban areas, safety measures must be both proactive and practical.", "The Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act recognizes these unique needs and ensures that rural Ontario is not just included in the conversation but is at the forefront of it. This bill is not merely about enforcing laws. It is about creating an environment where families feel secure, where businesses can operate without fear and where communities can grow stronger.", "One of the most pressing issues this legislation tackles is auto theft, a crime that is not only disruptive but deeply personal. For rural Ontarians, a vehicle is often much more than a mode of transportation. It is a vital tool for daily life. It is commuting to work, taking a loved one to a medical appointment, transporting goods or tending to farm duties. Losing a vehicle could mean losing one’s livelihood, an impact far beyond the individual.", "Auto theft has become increasingly sophisticated, often tied to organized crime networks that exploit loopholes in existing systems. One prevalent method is VIN fraud, where criminals steal the vehicle identification numbers from legitimate vehicles and use them to disguise stolen ones. This not only deceives buyers but undermines the integrity of our entire vehicle registration system.", "To combat this, the Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act introduces a new provincial offence for knowingly providing a false VIN during a transaction with the Ministry of Transportation. The penalties for this offence are intentionally severe, ranging from $50,000 to $75,000 for a first conviction and escalating to $100,000 for repeat offenders. These fines are complemented by potential jail time of up to six months and the suspension of driving privileges for up to a year.", "For rural residents, these measures are a welcome assurance that their vehicles and, by extension, their livelihoods are being protected. It is a decisive step towards restoring public confidence in our system, ensuring that criminals are held accountable for their actions.", "1350", "While penalties are important, prevention is equally as critical. Our government is investing in advanced technologies and operational safeguards to close the gaps that criminals exploit. The Ministry of Transportation has implemented VIN verification software, a tool that automatically cross-references vehicle information against secure databases to detect irregularities. This technology ensures that fraudulent transactions are identified and stopped before they can cause harm.", "ServiceOntario has also enhanced its fraud prevention protocols. Identity verification processes have been strengthened, and transaction data is now monitored more rigorously to flag abnormalities. These measures are especially significant for rural residents who rely on ServiceOntario for essential services. By ensuring that these services are secure, we are protecting individuals and communities from the far-reaching impacts of fraud.", "These are excellent and welcome additions by the Minister of Transportation, Prab Sarkaria, and Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement, Todd McCarthy. Thank you for these important changes.", "Madam Speaker, auto theft is rarely an isolated incident. It is often part of a larger web of organized crime that includes drug trafficking, gun violence and human exploitation. Recognizing this, our government has adopted a holistic approach to dismantling these networks.", "Through the Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy, we have allocated over $358 million to combat organized crime. A portion of these funds is directed specifically towards tackling auto theft, with $51 million dedicated to initiatives like the OPP provincial auto theft and towing team, or PATT, for short. This specialized unit collaborates with municipal police forces to target and dismantle organized crime networks responsible for auto thefts.", "In addition, Ontario’s major-auto-theft prosecution response team provides law enforcement with the resources needed to build strong cases against offenders. By ensuring that these cases are prepared and prosecuted effectively, we are not just addressing symptoms but attacking the root causes of crime. For rural communities, where law enforcement resources are often stretched thin, these initiatives provide critical support. They ensure that rural residents are not left vulnerable to the ripple effects of organized crime.", "Another cornerstone of the Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act is focusing on reckless and careless driving. Preliminary data from 2023 highlights a concerning trend: 14 fatalities and over 1,200 personal injury collisions occurred in parking lots across Ontario. These spaces, often considered low-risk, have become hotbeds for dangerous behaviours like street racing and unsanctioned car rallies.", "The legislation expands the scope of careless driving laws to include private parking lots. This change empowers police to address reckless driving behaviour in these areas, protecting not only drivers but also pedestrians and other road users. For rural communities, where parking lots often double as social and commercial hubs, this change is particularly impactful.", "Additionally, this bill extends the limitation period for laying charges in cases of careless driving from six months to two years. This allows law enforcement more time to conduct thorough investigations, gather evidence and ensure that justice is served.", "Safeguarding our families—responsible zoning for supervised consumption sites: The safety and well-being of children and families remain a top priority for this government. The Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act introduces zoning restrictions that prevent supervised consumption sites from operating within 200 metres of schools, child care centres and family hubs. This policy responds to the concerns of parents and communities, while maintaining a commitment to addressing addiction through evidence-based solutions.", "I know myself, as a father, it would have brought me great concern if I took my children to a school where there were supervised consumption sites next door. Existing sites within these zones can be transitioned into HART hubs, which provide comprehensive care and treatment. This balanced approach ensures community safety and public health are both prioritized.", "For rural families, these measures provide a sense of security, knowing that their children’s environments remain safe and focused on their well-being. Those that need care will be able to access services they need, and the community will feel safer at the same time.", "Rural Ontario depends on heavy commercial vehicles. From transporting agricultural products to delivering goods, trucking is a lifeline for rural communities. However, the increase in commercial vehicle traffic brings with it significant safety challenges. The Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act strengthens the oversight of the commercial vehicle operator’s registration, or CVOR, program. It gives the Ministry of Transportation more authority to intervene early when the operators demonstrate unsafe behaviour. Introducing administrative penalties and legislation ensures that violations are addressed swiftly, reducing the burden on the court system. These measures not only enhance road safety but also support the long-term sustainability of rural economies by ensuring that commercial operators meet high safety standards.", "We are investing in driver training and testing. Proper training is the foundation of road safety. Ontario was the first jurisdiction in North America to implement mandatory entry-level training for commercial drivers. This program sets high standards for driver education, ensuring that individuals have the skill and knowledge they need to operate large vehicles safely. Our government is now working with the industry stakeholders to update these training requirements, reflecting the evolving needs of the trucking sector. These updates will further enhance safety standards while supporting the economic vitality of rural Ontario, where trucking is a key industry.", "Empowering communities through collaboration: Madam Speaker, legislation alone cannot solve all the problems. Effective implementation requires collaboration among government, law enforcement and the communities. The Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act reflects this by understanding and including provisions that empower local police, improve inter-agency coordination and engage residents in safety initiatives.", "For rural Ontario, this collaborative approach is especially meaningful. I heard in our rural consultations the importance of sharing best practices and working together. It ensures that residents have a voice in shaping safety measures and that local concerns are addressed. By working together, we can build communities where everyone feels safe and secure.", "In closing, the Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act represents a bold step forward in our government’s commitment to public safety. It is a comprehensive and thoughtful response to the challenges facing our province, from auto theft and careless driving to fraud prevention and commercial oversight.", "For rural Ontario, this legislation is a positive step forward. It addresses unique challenges faced by rural residents, protects their livelihoods, and ensures that their communities remain safe and vibrant.", "I want to thank again the ministers involved in this legislation for taking the multi-sector approach to these pressing issues. As a representative for Lambton–Kent–Middlesex, I am proud to support this bill and the vision it represents. Together, let’s build a safer, stronger Ontario, one where every resident, regardless of where they live, can thrive.", "1400" ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "It is now time for questions." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Laura Smith", "text": [ "Thanks to the member for his really quite elaborate conversation on all of these topics, because there’s so much to hit on with this bill being so encompassing.", "He talked about being a father and the benefits that this legislation, if passed, will have on families and particularly schools, and he talked about the 200-metre buffer zone on consumption sites. Could the member opposite please talk about how this will make things a little safer around schools and daycare centres for those locations that do have these sites?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Pinsonneault", "text": [ "Thank you to the member. Honestly, as a father, I would have serious concerns of a young child going to a site that’s next to the school. I have spoken to a lot of families in my riding; they share the same concern. There’s a time and a place for everything. This is not the place.", "I just think, if this bill passes, you’re going to see a sense of relief where parents, myself included, can feel safer about their child going to school. They’re not going to worry about what happens in these sites. I think this bill is going to make my riding and myself personally and the parents I represent feel safer." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Jeff Burch", "text": [ "I thank my friend from Lambton–Kent–Middlesex for his comments. Look, our health care system is in crisis. We have millions of people without family doctors. We have emergency rooms, like in my community, that are closing. I understand the argument about proximity to daycares and schools, but here we have legislation that takes away yet another health care service, one that a lot of people are dependent on for their lives, but it replaces it with nothing. Bringing forward a piece of legislation like this, don’t you think it’s the government’s responsibility to replace it with something since you’re taking yet another health care service away from people who desperately need it?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Pinsonneault", "text": [ "What we are doing is creating a safer place for our daycares; a safer place for our schools. These existing sites are going to be transitioned into the HART hubs. This bill is dealing with safety. We will be transitioning these into the HART hubs, and that should suffice for that." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Robert Bailey", "text": [ "I’d like to ask the honourable member from Lambton–Kent–Middlesex, my neighbour, in addition to what is proposed in this legislation, what else is the government doing to continue to prevent auto car theft?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Pinsonneault", "text": [ "We have taken auto theft seriously. I don’t care where you go in Ontario; it affects everybody. The government is increasing the offences. They’re making the fines higher. They’re adding in jail time. We’re investing $51 million just into auto theft, realizing that we do have a problem there. We’re organizing crime networks to put thieves behind bars: the creation of the Ontario theft and towing team by the Ontario Provincial Police and a new community safety grant that targets this exact problem.", "We’re going to work on preventing auto theft. This bill pushes towards that." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Sandy Shaw", "text": [ "I’m glad we’re talking about auto thefts, because no one wants to see auto thefts in the province. I had my Crown Vic stolen. It’s a cop car, so it’s surprising to me that it would be stolen, but it was.", "But what you’re doing here is after the fact. These are provisions that are after a crime has occurred. We’ve had the member from Oshawa, Jennifer French, say time and time again that VIN fraud is occurring all across the province. In fact, 59 arrests and 302 charges were laid after phony VINs were being issued by employees at ServiceOntario. So why has this bill completely ignored the preventive measure to make sure VIN fraud does not occur, so that stolen vehicles can’t be re-VINed?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Pinsonneault", "text": [ "By putting stiffer penalties in place, that is going to deter auto theft. Honestly, we are spending money into this. We understand a lot of it is organized. We understand that it is an issue right across the province. We are investing 51 million bucks into it to recognize that it is a problem.", "But this bill will deter auto theft. This bill will make it so that people, when they do six months behind bars, will think the next time about whether they want to steal a car or not. The auto rings are the ones that we’re going after, and this will have a ripple effect. This bill will be effective." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mrs. Robin Martin", "text": [ "Thank you to my colleague the member from Lambton–Kent–Middlesex for your comments. This bill is really about public safety. We had the Police Association of Ontario here today, so I’m just wondering if you’ve had any discussions with police officers or the Police Association of Ontario and if you have any thoughts on what the police think of the changes proposed in this bill." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Pinsonneault", "text": [ "Thank you. My partner’s brother is an OPP officer, and he does think these are positive changes. We are making it easier for them to do their job. They are able to enforce what is going on.", "Let’s face it: It’s been a wild ride to this point with auto theft and it has been getting worse. We are putting the right tools in place. We are giving authority to the right people, and at the end of the day, we are going to fix this problem." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Joel Harden", "text": [ "To my friend from Lambton–Kent–Middlesex: Thank you for your comments. I want to provide a thought on a pilot in our community and get your reaction to the thought. The Ottawa police have been working with community health centres and with small businesses. Particularly it started in the market in the downtown area, if you’re familiar with that: the ByWard Market.", "What they have been trying to do is identify leaders who are in the drug-user community to help restore a kind of social order and social compact with small businesses. As those neighbours—and they are neighbours; they live in my city too—are struggling with their addiction issues, they actually can respect someone from within their community. And the police officers are saying to the small business owners, to the elected officials like me, “We have to find a way to reach people to persuade them to take a path of wellness.”", "This is one measure, a pilot measure. It’s called the Block Leaders program, where these folks from within the drug-user community—folks who use drugs—are tapped as leaders and empowered to try to help people not cause disturbances, to engage in social behaviour. I’m wondering what you think about that, as a pilot idea." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Pinsonneault", "text": [ "Honestly, I’m not familiar with that particular pilot project you’re talking about. I do know in several communities within my riding they have the community watch program, which is in itself quite effective.", "To answer your question, I’m not familiar with that and I’d honestly have to do some research before I could really give you an opinion." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "That’s all the time we have for questions and answers. We’re going to move on to further debate." ] }, { "speaker": "Miss Monique Taylor", "text": [ "I’m always honoured to take my space, to stand in this Legislature, to be able to add voice and hopefully some reason to bills that come before us. Today is the Safer Streets, Stronger Community Act that is before us. There are several schedules within this bill that talk about public safety, that talk about policing. There’s some good stuff in there, stuff that we would improve for sure, as you’ve heard. Our critic for transportation, the member for Oshawa, has put forward several thoughts and ideas that could have improved this bill. Unfortunately, the government didn’t see it necessary to act on that.", "1410", "But the part that I am going to focus on today is schedule 4, talking about safe consumption sites, the removal of them from our community, Speaker—as you are from Hamilton also, as well as the member from Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas—and what that does to our communities. Because, let’s face it, people who use drugs in our communities are people too. They are our parents; they are our brothers and sisters, our cousins, our neighbours. There are probably not many people who can actually say that they don’t know somebody who has used drugs or has become an addict and fallen to the awful addictions that we see in our community.", "We don’t have to go far in our community to see people suffering from addictions on our streets. And, unfortunately, we are seeing our streets be more unsafe. We see our neighbours scared to go to some parts of our communities and our neighbourhoods. We see needles in our parks. We see a community that we just don’t recognize any longer. But the portion, schedule 4, that is within this bill that will remove all consumption sites from our city—we only have one. We had another one in—the Minister of Sport is here, also another member from Hamilton.", "This move is not going to help solve the problem, unfortunately. I wish there would be a day in our community where we wouldn’t need these sites, but we do need sites. We do need the opportunity to save people who want to be saved while they’re using drugs that they’re addicted to. Nobody grows up as a child and says, “I want to be an addict.” It’s something that happens through prescription medications. It’s something that, possibly, many homeless people are facing in our community. They possibly may not have been drug-addicted before they were homeless, but they find themselves using narcotics and using drugs to either stay awake and not fall asleep for their own safety, or they’re taking drugs on the opposite end of the spectrum: to sleep through this time in their life. And it becomes a terrible situation.", "My heart breaks when I see people on our streets who you can clearly tell are under the influence. I spend many a time on the street with our Social Navigator Program, talking to people, building relationships with people, trying to understand how they got to that position. And none of it is pretty. None of it comes from a good-news story. They have fallen through the cracks somewhere at some point of their lives, to have found their way to a narcotic, and that narcotic has taken over their lives.", "So, as a government, as legislators, as leaders in our communities, we should be finding every possible solution to help that person through that scenario. Not everybody is ready for recovery. Not everybody recognizes the fact that they need recovery. But when we don’t have the available option when that person is ready for recovery, then we are failing way before any of this schedule could help or not help.", "People need access to detox and to rehabs, first and foremost. People need access to safe, affordable homes. People need access to family doctors. People need access to mental health care. All of these things, and lack thereof, lead people to a place where they don’t want to be. Let’s face it. And are there folks out there who found their way to drugs through a party? Sure. Absolutely that’s happened. But at that party, they probably weren’t expecting the fact that they would be next on the street, barely being able to keep their clothes on or barely being able to stand up straight and not being able to walk a line and finding themselves using these awful narcotics. Their parents can’t do anything about it while they’re watching their loved ones on the street or finding themselves in jails because they’re stealing or they’re doing criminal offences to find that next drug. This is the reality of what real people in our community are facing.", "To take away a place of safety that someone has made a conscious decision to enter—they’re not in the park leaving their needles and pipes; they’re in a safe place with health care officials who will ensure that they’re not going to die. This is what is being removed with this schedule.", "This is not a way forward. This does not fix the addictions in our community. Not one stitch of this will fix it; it will actually make our communities less safe. We’re going to find more paraphernalia in parks. We’re going to find more paraphernalia in the bus stops. We are going to find more people overdosing literally on our sidewalks.", "Our paramedics are already busy, our police are already busy—and they’re here today. They’re going to be running, trying to save that person’s life. Are they going to make it on time? Where are our health care systems going to be?", "What is this lack of good judgment, I have to say, going to do for the finances that the Conservatives seem to think about instead of worrying about the health and the true life of our constituents? That is the concern, and that is why this schedule should be removed from this bill.", "This bill is about safer streets, stronger communities. Safer streets and stronger communities are not going to happen when we remove safe consumption sites in our community. It’s not going to happen; it’s going to make it worse. If you don’t believe that it’s actually going to make it worse, then you’re not paying attention.", "More people will die. More people will be in ambulances. More police will have to attend the site. More families will be at gravesites saying goodbye to their loved ones that they desperately wanted to help and didn’t have the tools to do so.", "That is not the direction that I’m sure anyone in this Legislature wants. That cannot be the direction that anyone in this Legislature wants for their community or for their own family members, because I’m sure there has got to be a family member somewhere on the government side who is affected by drugs.", "Let’s talk about a mom who goes to work every day. She’s functioning. Many people who have drug addictions are functionable. They’re not all on the streets. They’re not all presenting in that sort yet, possibly—and hopefully never are.", "She’s coming home from work or he’s coming home from work—mom or dad. Kids are at home. Before they get there, they want to make sure that they’re taking what they need because their body is addicted to these drugs, so they’re going to the safe consumption site to use. They’re not hiding in their bathroom. They’re not hiding in their car. They’re in a safe environment where, if something goes wrong, there is somebody there immediately to fix them and to help them through that so that they can get home to their kids safely. That’s what a safe consumption site does.", "Are there problems in the community around safe consumption sites? Sure. Do you know why that is? Because those same sites don’t have the resources to be able to manage what’s happening on the streets around them. There are actual studies. It’s proven. It is very proven, and it was the Lancet that did a peer medical review that safe consumption sites save lives in and around the site. That’s actual fact.", "1420", "But due to public pressure, I guess, that the Premier was getting, due to the scene that people are seeing on their streets and in their neighbourhoods and in their parks—this is a knee-jerk reaction. This is not the solution. Like I said, if people are not using in a safe consumption site, they are going to be in the parks, they are going to be in their cars, they are going to be at bus stops, they’re going to be wherever they can find space to use. And when nobody is there with that Narcan to give them that instant injection, they’re going to die.", "The number of overdoses: If I can—I haven’t even looked at my papers yet. The number of overdoses that we have seen in our community is quite large." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Sandy Shaw", "text": [ "It’s 22,000 deaths in Ontario." ] }, { "speaker": "Miss Monique Taylor", "text": [ "It’s 22,000 deaths in Ontario.", "Let’s look at this: Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre had 61,667 total visits. That was 6,122 unique clients, 400 non-fatal overdoses—non-fatal because somebody was there to protect that person. That’s a big number. When I’ve met with urban core, they’ve told me they have not had one death, not one. How many deaths are we going to see if we don’t have these sites available to us? That’s not okay.", "RNAO: They’ve spoken out very clearly, stating the need for safe consumption sites for the ability to save lives. These are our nurses. These are our health care workers. These are the same people who are going to either be trying to help people once they’ve overdosed and been taken to an emergency room or the same people who are going to put the toe tag on the people who didn’t make it. These are our health care workers. These are the people whose voices we should be listening to when we’re dealing with situations like this.", "Now, the minister has talked about the HART hubs. The minister has said that the HART hub is the model that will be in place to replace the safe consumption sites. The HART hub will reflect community needs. That’s great. Safe consumption sites are doing that now; they’re building relationships. They’re providing all the supports that they have the ability to. They could offer shelter beds. They could offer addiction care. They could offer primary care. They could offer supportive housing. They could offer employment support. That’s a lot of “coulds”.", "What the minister said the HART hubs won’t offer: They won’t offer supervised consumption sites, they won’t offer safer drug supplies and they won’t offer needle exchange programs.", "Let’s talk about those needle exchange programs for a moment—and it’s not just needles; it’s also the glass pipes that are used. If they’re sharing those tools, we are going to see an increase in HIV and in hepatitis. It’s inevitable. It’s absolutely inevitable. People have worked years to be able to get to the point where we are. They have worked off their feet while we see the explosion of drug use in our communities.", "I would like to know what the government is doing to help the crisis and the epidemic that we’re seeing on our streets when it comes to drug use. You’re not doing anything. You’re not doing anything to ensure that people have a way out, and that’s what we need.", "We need immediate detox. If someone says, “I want help,” we should be able to take them by their hand and walk them right there, right then, no questions asked, immediately. Telling them, “Come back in 48 hours and we might be able to find you a bed,” that’s not going to work, and that’s just for detox. And then, once we get them detoxed, which is an awful, painful, terrible thing to have to go through and that is done under supervised health care because people could die from detox, we have nowhere to send them. We have nowhere to help them, to give them the rehabilitation, to help them rehabilitate back into community, into a healthy life, drug-free.", "You are offering none of those programs. They are wait-listed, and people are dying. People’s kids are dying on the street daily. Absolutely daily, people are dying on our streets. It’s an epidemic.", "By removing a safe consumption site that somebody has made a conscious decision to enter, where they are getting some of those supports, where they are making relationships, where they do have the hope of possibly getting into a detox and a rehab centre, you’re taking it away. You’re taking it away for the Premier to be able to say, “I’m cracking down and making our communities safer.” No, Premier, you are not. You are not making our communities safer. You are actually making it worse.", "We talk about moving the safe consumption site away from schools. Okay, I get it. Move them. Do what you need to do. But let’s not forget that some of those children in those schools have parents who have addiction issues, who need sites like this so that they’re not overdosing in the bathroom at home in front of their children. This is the reality. What you’ve put forward in front of us today is so anti-reality and is so blindsided by public appeal or policy that you think you know about. You are so wrong. You are so wrong.", "I’m literally begging the government to remove this schedule. Remove this schedule. Let’s put together a study. Let’s work together for the betterment of our communities, to try and address the crisis that we see in our communities, to stop the overdoses, to stop the deaths. But we need to make sure that we have housing available, that we have shelter spaces available, that we have detox available, that we have rehab programs available, that we have health care available, that people can have a family doctor, that people have a roof over their heads, that people have access to employment and hope at the end of the day.", "Because if you have a drug addiction and you’re literally living on the street—maybe you don’t even have a tent because somebody stole it or your encampment has been cleared out—what hope do you have? What hope do you have? Why would you want to get clean at that point? I might as well just stay drug-addicted and not have to pay attention to it. These are the things that our communities need. We’re desperate. People are desperate.", "Please, let’s not forget. We cannot keep looking away. There is nowhere else to look. It’s in every direction. People are people, regardless of their addiction, regardless of who they are. Something needs to be done. We need to start today by removing this schedule, by ensuring that people have actual, real services that will save lives in our communities.", "Thank you." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Jordan", "text": [ "I want to start by saying that nobody is arguing that people who suffer from addictions aren’t people, so I take exception to that implication. When you talk about taking away all your injection sites, I think the proper wording would be that injection sites that are close to our schools and our daycares—we’re taking those away.", "1430", "This bill is not about abandoning people. That’s why we have the homeless, addiction and recovery centres. It’s about helping people to get better. So my question to the member opposite: Is the member opposed to saying that safe injection sites should not be near our schools and our children? And is the member opposite in favour of homelessness, addiction and recovery centres?" ] }, { "speaker": "Miss Monique Taylor", "text": [ "I am not opposed to any service that will save lives in our community. But I’m not going to turn my head and pretend that these services aren’t part of a necessary plan to ensure that we do take care of people in our communities.", "As I said in my remarks, I don’t want kids exposed to this—absolutely not—but nobody can look away. You can’t look away without seeing somebody in your community. This is not going to stop that. It’s actually going to push more people into the community.", "We only had one in Hamilton. We’re losing it and there is no hope of getting another. All of the ones we are losing are not able to be replaced, and the ones that aren’t being removed are not getting any more funding. So you’re really actually taking them all away." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Sandy Shaw", "text": [ "I want to thank the member for Hamilton Mountain for explaining and describing this crisis, this epidemic, that is in all of our communities. I know you know Hamilton so well. We met with the police from our community this morning. They talked about having to deploy Narcan two, three, four times a day. They said, “This is not our job,” but they are doing it.", "I know that you’ve gone on with the Social Navigator Program, that what you’re talking about, you have seen with your own eyes. I think this idea that this government’s saying, “We’re closing these sites near schools”—sure; nobody wants to put our kids at risk. But you’re closing all the sites. Hamilton has a population of 500,000-plus. We had one, and it’s being closed. Can you describe what you have seen when you work with the Hamilton police and our social navigator program?" ] }, { "speaker": "Miss Monique Taylor", "text": [ "Thank you to the member from Hamilton West–Ancaster–Dundas. I want to be really clear, and I said it through my remarks: We have kids who live and go to those same schools whose parents use those safe consumption sites, because they’re in their neighbourhood and that’s where they live. So those kids are not able to get away from it regardless.", "That’s where it comes to the government further investing in sites to ensure that community safety around it is there, and that there’s relationships built. Just because you have an addiction doesn’t make you a bad person. People do have their issues; there is no doubt. I can’t sugar-coat any of that. Boy, I would love to, but I cannot.", "We need community services, wrap-around services that look like all different types of things to ensure that our kids are safe and that we’re not leading them to a life of addiction and to a life that nobody chooses for their kids." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Billy Pang", "text": [ "Question to the member opposite: I have friends, first-hand, who were drug addicts. Now they have quit. I can tell you none of them—zero, none—support this type of injection site.", "Across Ontario, addiction treatment centres, that the HART hubs are modelled on, refuse to allow drugs to be consumed on the premises where recovery and treatment is offered. The key is that recovery and treatment is offered. We applaud the hard work and dedication of the places. The staff, the team, day in and day out, are helping those recovering from addiction without enabling drug habits.", "So are you saying that these fine health workers are wasting their time? Or do you recognize that there is more than one way to keep addicts safe?" ] }, { "speaker": "Miss Monique Taylor", "text": [ "His last line meant everything: There is more than one way to keep addicts safe—yes, there is, and this is one of them.", "Do his friends disagree with this? Possibly. That’s okay. Not everybody is going to agree on everything, but your friends had the ability to get rehab, to be able to get clean. Maybe they were able to pay for it. We don’t have these resources in our community to be able to do this, and let’s not forget the fact that detox is a severe thing. People die from not having drugs, the drugs that they need—people die from that.", "So we need to ensure we have proper detox facilities, proper rehab facilities and that we do have a mix of things. But taking away a safe consumption site and forcing people back on the street or into dark hallways where they could die and overdose is not the solution to help people get the recovery that they need, it’s just not." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Joel Harden", "text": [ "Thanks to the member from Hamilton Mountain for your comments. There has always been something I’ve found confusing about this particular debate and the way it is framed; it is almost as if we have to choose, like we have to choose between housing, treatment, employment options or safe places for people to not die because we have a poisonous illicit drug supply out there—it is like folks are playing Russian roulette with their lives often out there.", "When I look at the evidence, when I talk to people at home, they say we need both. I want to say to the government, in all honesty, if the government had approached the community health centre in my riding that is slated to close the consumption treatment services on March 31 and said, “We want these services to be more of the focus than the CTS. We want us to work together,” they would have, with open arms, said: “We have been waiting for these resources for 15, 20 years. This is great.” That would have been the response. Instead, it was a press announcement at AMO in the summer that no one had any notice of, and you’re dealing with centres that are helping people in extreme trauma.", "I guess I’m asking the member from Hamilton Mountain, can’t we have both? Can’t we have a more collaborative way to doing community health and safety?" ] }, { "speaker": "Miss Monique Taylor", "text": [ "Thank you to the member from Ottawa Centre. Yes, absolutely, we have an epidemic on our hands. It is an extreme crisis that, as you heard, people know of people—from the other side, from the government side—so we need all hands on deck and that means all services on deck: safe affordable housing, proper detox, proper rehab—on time, not rehab in two months because God love them if they even make it that far, or if they still want it at that point of that day.", "We need all resources available to someone when they need it—immediately—and that’s investment, I get that, but it’s investment in our communities, it’s investment in our kids, it’s investment in our communities—it is the safety that our community members are asking for.", "This is not going to solve the problem because what are you going to cut next when things are only worse after these are closed?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "We have time for one final question." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Laura Smith", "text": [ "I want to thank the member opposite. We talked about different sites, and I’m going to refer to them simply as sites. Sometimes these sites often see less than 100 clients a month, these CTS sites.", "Could you clarify how many duplicate or repeat overdoses are being prevented on the same persons over and over again? Instead of helping them recover, I think we have to look at this in a quality way and I’m just wondering if she has any comments on that." ] }, { "speaker": "Miss Monique Taylor", "text": [ "I would love for people to have more services and better access. While they’re in those facilities, they are getting supports but those same people are handcuffed about what supports they can offer to the people who are using.", "It’s a whole thing; it’s not something that you can just use one piece of the puzzle and think you’re fixing something because you’re not—you’re actually making the problem worse by what you are doing.", "By providing more supports in our community, by ensuring that we are offering all of those things, those sites would love to have those options and services available to—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "It is time for further debate.", "1440" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "My thanks to the Solicitor General and the Associate Minister of Bail Reform for their amazing work, and to all my colleagues who contributed to this bill.", "It is an honour and responsibility to stand up before you as the voice of the community and the region of Durham. Today, I want to talk a bit about the shared commitment that lies at the very core of what we do as public servants, parents and community members. It is about ensuring the safety of our streets and the strength of our communities.", "As we look at the challenges that confront our province, one thing is clear: Public safety must be a priority and cannot be an afterthought. That is why I’m proud to stand behind the Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act, 2024, which is not just a collection of laws but a powerful road map for creating safer neighbourhoods, supporting victims and holding those who break the law accountable.", "This bill also provides the Solicitor General with the ability to create long-service and good-conduct medals for the municipal emergency workers, and I just want to thank the Solicitor General for that as I had the privilege to introduce that private member’s bill just a couple of weeks ago. This is an important step towards honouring their service, celebrating their sacrifices and showing them that Ontario stands behind them, now and always.", "In Ajax and across the Durham region, we’re incredibly fortunate to live in one of the most dynamic and diverse communities. Ajax is a place where families work hard, where businesses thrive and where we constantly build towards a greater future. As our community grows, so do the challenges that we face. Whether it’s the troubling rise in auto thefts, the dangers of reckless driving or concerns around the safety of our children in public spaces, these issues remind us of the need for bold and decisive action.", "The Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act is not just about addressing crime; it’s about addressing the concerns of families like yours and mine. It’s about ensuring that every child can walk to school without fear, that every parent can drive to work without worry and that our neighbourhoods continue to feel like home.", "Let us talk about the rising impact of auto theft. In Toronto, a car is stolen every 40 minutes. In my community, residents have experienced this first-hand. Vehicles are stolen from driveways, shopping centres and public spaces. Sometimes the same person might have lost their car twice, to be victimized more than once. These aren’t just statistics; they are stories of disruptions, of families left stranded and of hard-working people burdened by costs they should never have to bear.", "This legislation takes action against auto theft. It creates new provincial offences for the fraudulent use of VIN numbers and enhances penalties for those who participate in this growing crime. It also supports police services, including in my community of Durham, with targeted funding for dismantling organized crime networks behind these thefts. Because it is not just about the stealing of the car; it is all the other pieces that are connected.", "We do recognize that organized crime is a big part of this. And what comes out of organized crime? We have money laundering. We have human trafficking. We have sex exploitation. For a community like Ajax, where many families rely on their vehicles to commute, run errands and care for loved ones, the measures that we are putting in place are most urgent.", "As a mother, one of the important aspects of this legislation to me is the protection it offers to children and families. Many parents have shared their concerns about supervised consumption sites that are located too close to schools, child care centres and family hubs. I recognize that this is a polarizing discussion. We have support on both sides. I have spoken to families who do not support safe consumption sites, families who have said that if their family member was able to really hit bottom, they probably would still be here alive.", "Our government is continuing to look at the ways that we can help and support people who are suffering from addictions. We do not say that it is the wrong pathway to take. We say and we have continued to hear that we need more wraparound offerings to be able to do this. That is why in our government’s Roadmap to Wellness, our government has taken action to build a modern mental health and addictions support system that is focused on providing people with the right care in the right places.", "While we must be compassionate for individuals struggling with addiction, we cannot ignore the impact on our communities, especially our most vulnerable. We should have an expectation of people recovering. We should have an expectation of people being able to recover and live full lives.", "The members across talk about a parent that has an addiction that a child has to deal with. These are long-lasting impacts on not only those children, but on those families as well, and so we really should be talking about what we are talking about now: the supports that we want to put in place, wraparound supports that help people to get past addiction. It is not easy; we do not say it is. We do not say that it will happen overnight. But we do think that we should expect better for people who are in addiction; that we should not continue to perpetrate and keep them in a state where their quality of life is so diminished.", "The act abolishes sites from being within 200 metres of schools and child care centres, while providing a pathway for these sites to transition into homelessness and addiction recovery hubs. These hubs will be a game-changer. They focus on treatment and recovery, while offering critical supports like mental health services, addiction care and housing. These ensure we are addressing addiction compassionately, while prioritizing the safety of our children and the integrity of our communities.", "We are offering people who are struggling with addiction the opportunity to get help and wraparound support, bringing dignity back to those who are suffering from addictions. The fallout from being in the throes of addiction is long-lasting, and we know it leads to many more things. People who are in the state of addiction are in an altered state where the most important thing for them is their next shot. We have seen this, and this is why our government is committing to building these HART hubs, to have a crossover that will give people who are suffering from addictions additional supports.", "The next thing that we are tackling within this bill is dangerous driving and recklessness. We have seen the devastating impact of dangerous driving, whether it’s collisions in parking lots or the chaos of illegal street racing. These actions endanger everyone. This legislation strengthens penalties for careless driving, extends the time police have to lay charges and, for the first time, applies these laws to private spaces like parking lots. This means reckless drivers will face consequences whether they endanger lives on a highway or in a local mall. For families in Ajax, where shopping centres, community hubs, are vital to daily life, this sends a powerful message: Safety comes first and reckless behaviours are not tolerated.", "Durham region is fortunate to have dedicated law enforcement officers who work tirelessly to protect our communities. This act gives them the tools they need to monitor sex offenders, prevent name changes for individuals on the Sex Offender Registry and investigate sex crimes more effectively.", "Additionally, this legislation removes the limitation periods for victims of terrorism to pursue justice, ensuring that no one is denied their day in court simply because too much time has passed. These measures reflect our government’s unwavering commitment to supporting victims and standing with those who serve and protect. It is important.", "We are extending the drug treatment centres that are connected to courts. These are drug treatment courts that combine judicial supervision with structural substance programs. This is what we’re talking about when we’re talking about looking at holistic ways of helping people who are suffering from addictions: giving them options, giving them the opportunity to regain their lives and to regain dignity. Through these programs, it provides alternatives to incarceration for individuals facing charges related to non-violent criminal activities and associated with substance disorders. They provide intensive case management, frequent court appearances and random drug testing. Successful completion of these programs can result in a non-custodial sentence, and it is a collaborative approach, and we’ve talked so much about that and the import of these wraparound services. It’s a collaboration between a judge, the prosecutor, counsel and treatment providers to help these individuals to choose a different path from the continual cycle of addiction.", "1450", "We are also talking about some of the things that we have invested within our government. We have heard through our colleague on the other side about this government really not doing anything to help people that are suffering, and I disagree with that. Our government has continued to invest in mental health and addictions. We have created the Roadmap to Wellness, where we have invested $525 million since 2019, and that has covered a range of addiction treatments and supports, including the rapid access addiction medicine clinics, which provide quick access to addiction services without the need of a referral. We have expanded our youth hubs. Our youth wellness hubs offer evidence-based mental care, substance use and primary care to youth 12 to 25 years. Since 2020, our government has opened 23 new youth hubs, including in northwestern Ontario. We have launched virtual intensive treatment programs which are six-week intensive programs for moderate to severe substance use that people from across Ontario can access across the Internet. We have structured psychotherapy programs, offering convenient, free cognitive behavioural therapy to Ontarians across the province. So this that we’re talking about are just some of the things that we are investing in that offer support around mental health and addictions.", "We have also, within this bill—we have talked a little bit more about the long service and good-conduct medals for emergency workers.", "Actually, before I go to that, I’m just going to pull this up: When we talk about the hubs—the integrated treatment court hubs that offer drug treatment—I want to talk about that a little bit more.", "We talk about the judicial supervision, which is integrated treatment. The courts are involved, and regular judicial oversight, with judges playing an active role in monitoring progress with participants. These provide a really non-adversarial approach. These courts use a collaborative, non-adversarial model, including judges and prosecutors. And that’s what we’re talking about: really having different options for people that are suffering from addiction. The comprehensive integrated support that these court services offer provides access to a range of services, including substance abuse treatment, mental health support, social services, and tailored to individual needs. These programs have a great success rate. That is why we are continuing to support programs like those that help people to recover and to get back to living—because a drug addiction is not living; it is really living in a heightened state of emergency at all times.", "And I know families that have accessed this. I have been in close contact with people that have been addicted to drugs as well. They wanted somebody to lift them out. They wanted somebody to help them. Our colleague across the way is right: Sometimes you’re not ready, and you have to make that decision. But how do we do that? How do we help them to make that decision if we continue to keep them in this altered mental state where they cannot make rational decisions?", "So this is—I really disagree; we are being painted with a brush of “people that don’t care.” I know we have gotten it in our constits: “There’s blood on your hands. There will be blood on your heads.” But I also attended a high school recently, and it was the ACT program that was teaching high school kids first aid, and they had taught quite a lot of kids across Ontario first aid. And now in that first aid treatment they’re now training them how to administer naloxone kits. That is where we are in our province, where we are training in so many different areas. Our kids are being trained on that, as well. That is important because when there is somebody in crisis, you want to have somebody that can help you.", "We’ll move on, and I’ll talk a little bit about the long-service and good conduct medal. In addition to our law enforcement officers, it’s important that we recognize the municipal emergency workers, recognizing that they face similar dangers and challenges as their counterparts. In Ontario, we are proud to have a diverse range of front-line emergency workers, from urban communities, such as Toronto, to smaller communities, such as Thunder Bay and Cornwall.", "Within this bill, it now gives the Solicitor General the opportunity to explore how to put in place a long-service medal for those that have served for a long period of time. I don’t want to say how many years because I’m not sure what he is going to come up with as of yet. I think this is so important, and even as many of us have met with police officers within our communities today, that we recognize. We recognize that policing has changed. Policing has become the catch-all for so many of our social services and it does take a toll on them, as well. We’re seeing officers that are not staying as long as they used to stay. You know, of the officers that I met, one of the officers today was actually retiring after 33 years of service; I don’t know how many of the young officers will stay that long anymore.", "It is so important that we recognize their work and the work that they do. I can say that every organization has their challenges, and the police do, as well, because policing has changed. As an organization, they need to look at how they change, how they talk about and deal with the challenges that they are facing today. How do they do that when training is the same? We need to talk about what our communities look like now.", "What makes the Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act so important is that it doesn’t react to crime; it works to prevent it. By proclaiming November as a community safety and crime prevention month, we’re fostering a culture of awareness and action. That also goes to the point where we need to acknowledge and appreciate our front-line workers, because the work they do is so essential. The act also expands justice centres that we’ve set, which is also an amazing piece in crime prevention.", "These initiatives are about breaking the cycles of harm and ensuring that people receive the help they need before they reach a breaking point. When I look at Ajax, I see a community filled with potential, as do many of us across the province. I see young people walking to school with big dreams, families building their futures and seniors enjoying the peace that they have worked so hard to gain. The Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act is about preserving that potential and protecting the quality of life we all cherish.", "This legislation ensures that no family has to live in fear and children can walk to school and experience their playgrounds in a safe space. No one is left without support. It’s creating a province where every Ontarian feels like they belong and feels like they are safe. The road to safer streets and stronger communities starts with us. It starts with full action, with listening to the voices of our residents, and with a government willing to put people first.", "The Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act is a testament to what we can achieve if we work together, and it is my commitment—and I thank you for your partnership, your dedication, and your belief in the power of community. Together we can and will make Ontario a safer and stronger place that is more united." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "It’s now time for questions." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Tom Rakocevic", "text": [ "I want to thank the member for her very thoughtful speech today. She mentioned auto theft, and it’s something that we are all very concerned with. Certainly, in the time that the government has been in office, it has been a growing problem. In fact, auto thefts in the province of Ontario are up by more than 100% in the six years since the government has held power. I know during that period of time, the government has met with different industries and different businesses. We hear about it all the time.", "One of the industries and one of the places that they have not invested their time is talking to auto manufacturers who want to sell cars in Ontario and what they can do about making these cars safer. This is something that law enforcement and police have talked to us about, how easy it is, when you have those remote key fobs and other things, to be able to break into these cars.", "1500", "Will the member commit to talking to her colleagues and ministers about how important it is to speak to these manufacturers to ensure that cars that are sold in the province of Ontario have the highest standards of protection? I think this is something you can do, and I hope you’ll do it in a very public way, if you do so." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "Thank you to the member for that question. Of course, we continue to explore every option that we can to make Ontario safer for Ontarians. We talk about technology and the reality of government is, technology moves ahead so much faster than we do with legislation, so much faster than we do, and we’re often behind the eight ball when it comes to regulating technology. I think this is what we are seeing with car theft.", "It’s easier for us to be able to press a button and get into our cars. I went into my friend’s car the other day, because they lent it to me, and I kept looking for the key to put it in the hole, and now it’s just a push button. It is something that—old school, I don’t how to say it, but definitely the conversation continues to figure out how we can do better." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Sheref Sabawy", "text": [ "Thank you for the really informative speech from my colleague. I would like to ask her and also tell the opposition, we hear from our Associate Minister for Auto Theft and Bail Reform how much is needed to change to require keeping criminals where they belong, behind bars. We hear many stories about cars thefts and break-ins, where people can take the keys and flee with the cars; many cars get into accidents and we discover that they are stolen. Stories about thieves who actually go to court and then the same day they get bailed out and they do another incident to collect money for the lawyers.", "What is the government doing to aid the collection of these bail statistics to support the recent calls for Criminal Code reform?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "Thank you for that question. We recognize that car theft is a crime of opportunity. Before you had one or two cars that were stolen across the province. It wasn’t that lucrative. Now it is. It’s a part of organized crime. It funds so many other things. We can’t just think about this as just a car going missing. There’s so much more, the implications. We continue to work with our federal counterparts in regard to how to stop this crime and break down this crime. Because we can be concerned about what’s coming in, but we now need to really look at what’s going out. Part of that is the amount of cars that are flowing out of our country and into other countries are really creating a cash system.", "The ministry is collecting bail data on behalf of the Ontario Court of Justice and we’ll continue to look at that and analyze those—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Terence Kernaghan", "text": [ "I’d like to thank the member for her comments and debate today. I think people across Ontario are growing very tired of political games. Of all the schedules in Bill 223, we support them all, with the exception of schedule 4. This government seems ideologically opposed to not only providing supports for people who are struggling with addiction and mental health, but also providing affordable housing for anyone who needs it.", "I’d like to ask the member: We see the proliferation of Doug Ford’s encampments across the province. Does the member not agree that it is cheaper and more humane to house people with supports than it is to leave them languishing on the streets?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "Again, I take exception to the statement that says that we are playing games. You don’t play games with peoples’ lives. That is why we are invested in our Homelessness Prevention Program, and we’ve rolled that out to municipalities across the province. We have invested $700 million into that program. That is a substantial investment. That is just one program out of the many that we have put in place as a government to support people that are suffering from homelessness, addictions and mental health.", "We continue to ask the opposition to continue to support these programs. We know they are concerned about it. They can vote and can support the rolling out of funding for these programs." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. David Smith", "text": [ "I want to thank my colleague from Ajax.", "We heard from the Associate Minister of Auto Theft and Bail Reform that change is required to keep criminals where they belong, behind bars. What is the government doing to aid the collection of bail statistics to support the recent call for criminal change reforms?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "Thank you, sir. I’m extremely proud of this program because we had out in Durham region—when I was on the police board, they had come up with this bail tracking dashboard. I remember when they showed it to us on the police board, and it was such a great thing to be able to look in real time about people that are out on bail and where they were stationed. It really gave the police officers in Durham at the time the ability to be able to locate perpetrators that were out on bail. We have since rolled that out province-wide, which is a fantastic opportunity for officers to be able to—what we say, “Tools to do their jobs.”", "I had mentioned before that the OCJ reports on their website, and they collect and analyze and report reliable data on bail, which is crucial to supporting the proper administration of the bail system and addressing concerns about public safety. So we’re really starting to look at that data, really digging down into that, and continue to work to keep people in jail." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Sandy Shaw", "text": [ "I wanted to, on behalf of the member from Oshawa—who has been bringing up time and time again the fact that this government is not cracking down on VIN fraud. You had a perfect opportunity in this bill to include that. We know that earlier this month, Toronto police made 59 arrests and filed 302 charges after they uncovered a scheme involving the phony registration of VINs, vehicle identification numbers, by employees of a ServiceOntario location.", "We’ve been calling time and time again for preventative measures to stop the fraudulent use of VINs, which is a clearly important component to vehicle theft. Vehicles are stolen, they’re re-VINed, they might be sold unwillingly to people in the communities, or they might be shipped off, but this is a huge piece of your attempt to stop auto theft. It’s a huge, huge component that you’ve completely overlooked. Why is that?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "I say to my colleague across the way, we continue to look at ways to be effective. This legislation is the first step towards that. Of course, we have never said or ruled out the possibility of implementing technology that can actually track and do what you’re talking about in regard to tracking VIN registration.", "The proposal in this bill is to actually create an offence for re-VINing vehicles because we don’t have that now. The proposed legislation would create a new provincial offence under the Highway Traffic Act for providing a false VIN number when applying for a vehicle permit. Penalties would range from $50,000 to $75,000 for the first conviction and $75,000 to $100,000 for subsequent convictions, with the possibility of up to six months in jail. So I think we’re making the—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "It is now time for further debate." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Jessica Bell", "text": [ "I’m pleased to be here in the Legislature today to speak to the Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act, Bill 223. What a bill—wow. What a divisive bill we have here.", "A few days ago, I was sent a photo of a man called Jonah by his mother, Katherine McCloskey. Jonah is holding his two-year-old son, Hendrix, on a TTC train because Hendrix loves trains. Jonah died of an overdose on June 2, 2024. Hendrix lost his dad at a time in his life where he will probably never hold memories of him, and Katherine McCloskey lost her son.", "1510", "Jonah’s mother, Katherine, spoke about her son at a press conference we hosted at Queen’s Park in September of this year. I cannot believe she came. Her son had just died. She says, “I could not protect my adult son Jonah from being killed by Toronto’s toxic drug supply, but the Conservative government can choose to protect some of this province’s most vulnerable sons and daughters.”", "The Conservatives are not listening to Katherine’s plea. This bill is a bill that will close 10 consumption and treatment sites by March 2025, and ban new sites from opening up anywhere in Ontario. Those sites include the consumption site in Kensington on Augusta Avenue.", "Let’s be clear about what consumption and treatment sites are. They are essentially a room where people go and inject their own drugs under the watchful eye of a nurse or a health care worker who can revive them if they overdose. That’s essentially what it is. These sites can also help people access health care and other services, such as getting a doctor’s appointment with a family doctor or getting on a wait-list for supportive housing, because often that health care worker in that room is that person’s only point of contact for services—their only point of contact for services.", "The statistics are horrific. They are horrific. According to Public Health Ontario, in 2022, 2,531 people died of an overdose. That’s a lot. There were also 2,044 hospitalizations and 12,144 emergency room visits—to our overcrowded, overburdened hospitals. I had someone come up to me and say, “You know, when someone goes to the hospital with an overdose, it’s not like they just come in and walk out.” Some of them do, but some of them don’t, because when people overdose, oxygen to the brain is reduced, which can lead to permanent brain damage. So we are having situations where often young people, under 40, are in a situation where they are experiencing permanent brain damage because we do not have an easy and safe place for them to use and survive an overdose addiction. It is an absolute shame. It means people will die, people like Jonah: sons, daughters, fathers, mothers.", "I also want to be clear. When consumption and treatment sites close, the problem of addiction does not go away. People take drugs elsewhere. Instead of using them at the site, they will use them in nearby washrooms. They will use them outside businesses, which they currently do in Kensington. They will use them in schoolyards. The entire neighbourhood becomes a consumption site if we don’t provide a safe, secure location with health care workers present for people to use and survive if they overdose. That’s the facts. That is the facts.", "Now, the Conservatives say they’ll set up 10 abstinence treatment centres to help some people struggling with addiction. I’d like to know when. It would be good to know when. But, quite frankly, an abstinence-only approach is as dangerous as instructing a drowning person on how to swim instead of throwing them a life jacket.", "The Minister of Health was asked by a reporter from the Trillium, Jack Hauen, if research had been done about how many people will die as a result of this decision to close consumption sites. And her answer is astonishing. Her answer is, “Jack”—that was the reporter’s name—“people are not going to die. They’re going to get access to service.” Do you really believe that? Do you honestly really believe that?", "I really question why the Conservatives are taking such a dangerous approach to addressing addiction. I question it. And I fear, I fear it is because an election is coming up and the Conservatives want to play a divisive game of securing votes by choosing wedge issues and targeting vulnerable people instead of showing leadership and addressing the crisis of addiction.", "Municipalities, hospitals, nurses, public health experts and even two provincial government-commissioned reports recommend keeping consumption sites open. There is sometimes an issue of crime, no question. And consumption sites have approached this government and said, “Why don’t you help us with that issue by providing us with additional social workers and security so we can tackle that specific issue?” The government chose to ignore that recommendation.", "The truth is the Ontario government can and must meet people where they’re at by keeping them alive and preventing them from having an overdose by keeping consumption sites open. The truth is the government can and must provide more treatment, health care, counselling and housing to help people recover and rebuild their lives. And the truth is—and I never hear the government talk about this; I never hear them talk about this—the government can do more to help people from becoming addicted in the first place by tackling root cause issues like poverty, a lack of housing and abuse. Where is your plan to stop addiction from happening in the first place? Because I don’t see it.", "We recently organized a rally in our neighbourhood of Kensington. We did outreach to the businesses, we went one-on-one. We know there are challenges with the consumption site. We’re not going to pretend that there isn’t. So we went one-on-one to the businesses, we went one-on-one to residents in the area, we gave out flyers, we worked with the local neighbourhood group that runs the consumption site to hold a rally. To say this community understands that this consumption site is valuable to our community because it saves lives, and it contains the issue of drug use within a specific area instead of having it go everywhere. And we had many people come out, and I want to read some of their quotes.", "One of them is from Patricia Au. She’s a local parent at Kensington Community School—within a 200-metre radius. Kensington actually supports the consumption site because before the consumption site existed, people were using in the schoolyard. They were using in the schoolyard, because that’s the reality of Kensington.", "The Kensington Community School, the principal, supported the consumption site being established, and Patricia, who is a local parent and a member of the parent council, also supports it. And her quote is: “Closing the site undermines our community’s efforts to create a safe environment for the most vulnerable members and to offer them the support they need to manage their addictions. As a parent in this neighbourhood, with children who attend the local elementary school, we have taught our kids the values of compassion and humanity towards those in need. Safe injection sites play a crucial role in breaking the cycle of addiction. If school-age children can grasp this concept, the government should step up and understand this too.”", "Here’s another quote. This comes from an individual who uses the consumption site in Kensington. They’ve chosen to remain anonymous, so we’re going to call them a client. This is their quote: As a client of the Kensington site, “I have to say it is my extended family, without them I would be using alone in laneways and alleyways. I don’t know if I would be alive. I am scared if the OPS”—overdose prevention site—“closes what will happen to me and my friends? The staff” at the site “show us love, support and understanding. We are not judged or stigmatized in any way. Why would anyone want to take that away from us? I don’t understand. The announcement made me cry. I don’t want to lose any more friends.” This site “is the only family I have and we’re losing too many people to overdose.” This site “saves lives every day. They saved two more people yesterday.", "“Why doesn’t this government want us to be safe? Don’t we matter.... Please reconsider the announcement. You are killing us if” this site “closes.... We want” the site “to stay.”", "I want to read some other quotes from people who attended the community rally at Kensington. It was a diverse group of people. Over 200 people came.", "This is a quote from local resident Robyn Armstrong, who attended the rally, and she said that the site is extremely important for her community. She said that “the site doesn’t make her concerned for her son’s safety.” She said she is a parent and she “welcomes the site as important health care.", "“Safe sites reduce public drug use and save the lives of vulnerable people.” She gets it, and when people live in Kensington—the vast majority of people get it, because they know people are not going to go away if the site closes.", "This is another quote. This comes from Joanne, who manages a bar in the area. She said she “has befriended some people who regularly visit the consumption site.... Sometimes, it’s hard.” It is hard. The consumption site is not an easy place to visit. “Some people can’t even work here because you see people overdosing across the street. She says “the site should stay open as people using drugs won’t leave the area even if it closes. ‘They’re still going to be here. They might as well have services, food and a place to shower.’” That is the reality of it. It’s called harm reduction for a reason. It’s hard to see this government making decisions that put politics ahead of saving people’s lives. It is very hard.", "1520", "I want to talk a little about some other aspects of the bill in the time I have remaining, and the aspects of the bill that I would like to talk about is the decision by the government to move ahead with better regulating the VIN process. What we see with the issue of VINs with this new bill is that the government is going to create a new provincial offence of using a false vehicle identification number, and the fine associated with using a false VIN is up to $100,000, imprisonment of up to six months and a possible suspension of a driver’s licence. This is a good step in the right direction, and we want more steps taken in order to ensure the province is doing everything it can to clamp down on the market for stolen vehicles, and this is an issue in my riding. This is an issue in my riding.", "Earlier this year, I attended and was a speaker at an event on safety at the Rosedale United Church in my riding. The event was organized by numerous residents’ associations—the North Rosedale, South Rosedale, Moore Park, Summerhill, Governors Bridge and Bennington Heights residents’ associations—and the main topic of this town hall was the sharp rise in auto theft. I’ve reached out to the ministers responsible for this topic to raise the concerns that I heard at this event.", "Residents spoke of having their homes broken into, of having their car keys stolen while they were sleeping in the home. Many residents spoke up again and again about how angry, betrayed, scared and worried they were for their safety, both inside and outside the home.", "The police were there—it’s Toronto police 53 division—to give a summary of the extent of the rise of auto theft, not just in this particular area but across Ontario, and the statistics are sobering. There has been a 524% increase in auto theft claims costs from 2018 to 2023. It is shocking. People have the right to feel safe. That’s what I expect in Ontario; I think that’s what everyone expects.", "We also know that solving the issue of auto theft is going to require a coordinated effort from all three levels of government. Now, at that town hall—and also we’re hearing the government on the other side do this as well—there was a lot of focus on what the federal government can do. I agree. The federal government should be doing more to ensure that stolen vehicles are not quickly and easily shipped out of our ports to other countries and sold.", "But what I also think is important is for us to focus on what the provincial government can do to address the issue of auto theft, and what I see in this bill is a move to clamp down on the very real issue of a vehicle being stolen and then being re-registered through ServiceOntario, through the use of a false vehicle identification number, and there is some effort here to address that problem.", "My request, and I think our party’s request, is that you need to go further. Other provinces have moved forward with having a proactive response to investigating vehicle identification numbers to ensure that no vehicle that is stolen is permitted to be re-registered under the ServiceOntario process and get a new VIN. It shouldn’t happen, and the measures that I’m seeing in this bill, what I’m hearing from stakeholders already, is that it doesn’t go far enough. If we want to stop the resale of stolen vehicles in Ontario, you need to do more. The Conservatives need to do more.", "The other piece that I believe the MPP for Toronto Centre raises regularly is that if we want to address the issue of auto theft, we need an appropriate policing response and we also need an appropriate legal response. What we’re seeing in the court system today is astronomically long delays in people getting access to justice, and that is overwhelmingly because there are significant staffing shortages and judges in the provincial court system—overwhelmingly. And this doesn’t just concern the issue of auto theft. It also concerns issues of people who are survivors of assault, of sexual assault. They’re having their cases thrown out in court because the timeline for them to get a hearing and a trial is so long that the case is thrown out. That should not be happening in Ontario today, and it does. That is a shame, and I urge this government to fix it.", "We recently had a fall economic statement that was just announced, and what shocked me is that instead of bolstering support for our justice system, this government has made a decision to cut funding to the justice system, which will only make the issues that we are seeing in our legal system worse. That is the wrong direction to take.", "I want to conclude by talking a little bit about what I’ve seen this government do over the last few months since we’ve returned to the Legislature. What I see is this government is engaging in politics of division.", "We are seeing them blaming the Liberal carbon tax for the affordability crisis even though affordability is a measure that this government can address.", "We’re seeing this government blame bike lanes—three bike lanes approximately three feet wide—for the entire congestion crisis that we have across the GTHA. That doesn’t even make sense. Toronto has been on record of having the worst commute times for decades, and yet somehow, mysteriously, there are these three bike lanes in downtown Toronto that are the reason why people are having congestion issues on the 401. No reasonable person believes that, yet you’re doing that. You’re saying, “Oh, it’s bike lanes. They’re the reason that we have a congestion crisis,” instead of dealing with the issue at hand, which is investing in transit.", "We see this government blaming the poor for living in encampments, which I find awful because there are reasons why people live in encampments. They’re struggling, they’re vulnerable, they’re poor.", "I would like to see this government move forward with vacancy control and real rent control so rent can be affordable again. I would like to see this government build affordable housing instead of turning their back on it. I would like to see this government increase social assistance rates so people can afford to live in our cities and towns. That is a very effective way to deal with the encampment crisis, but I don’t see this government doing that. Instead, they’re playing the game of blaming people for problems that this government has a responsibility to address.", "When I go door to door, the issues that I hear about are issues that I would like this government to address and what we are advocating for, and those issues include ensuring that housing is affordable—that it is possible for an individual or family to buy a home; that it is possible for an individual to move into Toronto, get a job and afford the rent. That’s not a lot to ask for. That’s what people want.", "When I go door to door, I hear people talk about their lack of access to family doctors. They want a family doctor or a nurse practitioner who can see them if they have a problem. That’s what they want, but instead, we’re seeing this government move ahead with privatization and not move forward with meaningful steps to ensure everyone in Ontario has a doctor.", "When I go door to door, I hear people talk about how they want municipalities that work. They want potholes to be filled; they want the transit to turn up on time; they want to pay a reasonable fare; they want the libraries to be open; they want daycares; and they want our parks to be free from garbage. In order for that to happen, the Conservatives need to properly fund services at the municipal level so that our cities and towns can work. That’s what people want, but instead, what we’re getting from this government is the game of diversion. I think that’s a shame because people will die as a result of that and people will suffer. I think that you should take a different approach.", "That’s all I have to say today. What a terrible bill. Aspects of this—it’s just an outright terrible bill. People in my riding will die when this consumption and treatment site closes, and I think that is a shame. Thank you." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Patrice Barnes)", "text": [ "Questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Laura Smith", "text": [ "I listened respectfully to the member opposite, and our government is taking a balanced approach. I used to work under the child protection act, and this bill introduces measures to address the root cause of crime, including expanding justice centres and integrated treatment courts. I’ve spoken to parents who live near sites, and they’re not lying when they talk about stepping over needles and being afraid to be near consumption sites with their children.", "I’m just wondering what the opposition’s comments are on a balanced approach that focuses on both crime prevention and rehabilitation when these programs are often proven effective and reduce reoffending and improve public safety.", "1530" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Jessica Bell", "text": [ "Thank you very much for that question. I think there’s this assumption that if you move a consumption and treatment site, suddenly people who are using drugs are just going to magically disappear. That’s, quite frankly, not true. What we have seen is that if a consumption and treatment site is moved, people continue to use; it’s just more likely they’re going to use in the street, they’re going to use in the schoolyard, they’re going to use in front of a business. Containing the problem actually results in increased safety.", "If this government was serious about addressing the addiction issue and keeping people alive using a harm reduction approach, they would allow other consumption and treatment sites to be opened that are 200 metres or further away from schools and daycares, but this government is choosing not to do that. I think that is a shame." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Patrice Barnes)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Catherine Fife", "text": [ "What an impassioned speech—informed, researched, evidence-based commentary on safe consumption sites. One of the shocking numbers that the member mentioned was the over 2,600 people who died of drug-related toxicity in Ontario last year. Just to give you some context: A Boeing 747 holds 366 passengers, so seven planes crashed in this province last year, and the government’s response is to shut down, basically, the safety and health and well-being of those individuals. It’s really quite something.", "“Researchers have studied safe consumption sites for efficacy in three primary areas ... reducing individuals’ physical harms associated with drug use”—which she covered—“such as the spread of HIV and hepatitis C, infections, and overdose” and reducing social harms.", "To my colleague: What do you really think is going on with this bill that has a poison pill, ironically, in removing safe consumption sites?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Jessica Bell", "text": [ "Thank you to the member for Waterloo. Yes, this bill does have a poison pill in it. There are measures in this bill that are absolutely supportable, but then there’s this terrible aspect of the bill where there is a move to close down consumption and treatment sites.", "I would like this government to take a comprehensive approach to dealing with the issue of addiction, where we meet people where they’re at and keep them alive, and we provide comprehensive holistic services, from mental health care to support to affordable housing to addiction treatment. We can do both. It’s not one or the other." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mrs. Robin Martin", "text": [ "I listened intently to my friend from University–Rosedale. We have consumption sites now and people are still overdosing outside of them. In fact, I was told that people come near the site but won’t go in, so they are on the streets sometimes—often—and needles are on the streets and drugs are on the streets and other things are on the streets.", "How do you answer the family of Karolina Huebner-Makurat, 44, who was killed because these sites become a magnet for crime? Statistics have painted a grim picture. It’s out of control around consumption sites. Crime data shows 113% higher reports of assault, 76% higher reports of break-and-enter, 40% higher reports of shootings, 96% higher reports of robbery and 44% higher reports of homicide. People are being killed because these places are magnets for crime." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Jessica Bell", "text": [ "This is a genuine question back to the member opposite: What do you think is going to happen when these consumption and treatment sites close? Where do you think people are going to go? In that situation where an individual was shot, the consumption and treatment site and the social service agency asked for additional support and additional funding to provide for security in the area, like many of the consumption and treatment sites have. Did the government provide it? No.", "Where is this government’s plan to address some of the root-cause issues that lead people to use in the first place? Where is the increase in social assistance rates? Where is the plan to provide affordable housing and supportive housing that matches the need? Where is the commitment to provide serious mental health and addiction services that match the urgency of the problem? I don’t see it." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Terence Kernaghan", "text": [ "I would like to thank my friend from University–Rosedale for a very informative and important speech. I just wish that the government had been listening about what root causes are and how to address them.", "My question, though: the member’s comments about thieves and criminals using ServiceOntario locations to register stolen vehicles, and the fact that there is no system in place in Ontario to verify VINs—this has made Ontario not only a hot spot for theft, but a hot spot to move stolen property.", "Are the punishments that are set out in Bill 223 an effective deterrent to crime, and do punishments actually solve the root cause of the problem?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Jessica Bell", "text": [ "Thank you to the member for that question. What we are hearing is that, in this bill, there is a move to crack down on the use of taking a stolen vehicle and getting it licensed again, giving it a VIN number through the ServiceOntario process.", "The problem we see is that experts are telling us that it doesn’t go far enough, and that one measure that the Ontario government could do is to look at what other provinces are doing and to move ahead with a system in place that would investigate and verify VIN numbers in a more proactive fashion. My hope is that, when we go to the amendments process, there is a move to take this measure to crack down on VIN abuse one step further so we can stop the sale of stolen vehicles in Ontario." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further questions?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "I was listening intently to my colleague on the other side. Shebrought up the Kensington safe consumption site. I just want to say, let’s look at some of the things that we’ve seen through their Instagram account. We have a post that went on their Instagram account that says, “This is a beautiful chunk of fentanyl used today by one of our clients. We thank them for letting us snap a” quick “pic and share.” Or they’re crafty when they posted, “Making them pre-made crack pipes.”", "Can you not see why a community would be concerned about consumption sites? What do you think about this kind of posting that seems to be creating an atmosphere where it’s okay?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Jessica Bell", "text": [ "Thank you are very much for that. We did extensive outreach in the community to talk about the consumption and treatment site. We went to all the retail businesses in that area. We visited the local schools. We’ve gone door-to-door in the neighbourhood, and we work regularly with the Neighbourhood Group, which is the organization that runs that consumption and treatment site.", "The Neighbourhood Group is one of the most well-established and well-liked social service agencies in the area. They provide daycare services. They provide employment counselling. They hire people. They provide a drop-in service. They run some supportive housing. I cannot speak to that specific Instagram post, but I would urge you to take another look at the Neighbourhood Group, because we have a lot of respect for what they do, and many people do." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "That’s all the time we have for questions. We’re going to move on to further debate." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Clark", "text": [ "I appreciate the opportunity to have a few minutes to talk about this very important debate on Bill 223—very important.", "I had the minister in the riding last week during break week. I really appreciated Minister Kerzner’s time. It’s not the first time he’s been in my riding, but we talked about very important issues around law and order. One of the big things we did last week on break week was, when the minister was in the riding, he announced a major investment: some $21.8 million for the municipality of North Grenville to expand their waste water plant. Why is that important?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Clark", "text": [ "Yes, you can applaud, for sure. Yes, it’s great.", "Why is that important? It’s important because, as part of our correctional expansion, we need to build capacity. I think we all agree on the government side of the House that, for too long, these facilities weren’t invested in.", "The Brockville Jail, the oldest operational jail in Ontario, first opened in 1842—182 years, the jail has operated in the city of Brockville. What is our government doing to that jail? On August 27, 2020, Premier Ford was in the riding; he announced that the Brockville Jail would expand from 54 beds, up 12, to 66. Not a big announcement, but an important announcement given that 182-year asset. As well, at the time—same date, August 27, 2020—the Premier announced a new Eastern Ontario Correctional Complex in the municipality of North Grenville.", "1540", "Why was Minister Kerzner’s announcement so important in North Grenville? Because the plant is going to—basically, the waste water plant, 30 years old—triple the cost. So we are paying our fair share; we are paying over a third of the cost of the upgrade to this facility because of the Eastern Ontario Correctional Complex.", "Why is that important for debate today? Because I made the promise to our community a couple of years ago during an election that I would make sure that the government paid their way in all those associated costs. If you’re going to put a law-and-order agenda forward as a government, you’re going to have to make these investments—you need to pay your way. I want to thank Minister Kerzner for coming to the riding, for recognizing that.", "What has happened since then? Since the Premier made the announcement in 2020—in fact, because of our capacity, the fact that we need more capacity in our correctional complex—he has announced another 184 beds to Brockville. So it’s no longer going to be the 54 beds plus 12; it’s going to be now another 184 beds, up to 250—in fact, larger than the facility in North Grenville, the Eastern Ontario Correctional Complex there. As well as the St. Lawrence Valley treatment centre, 100 beds, which is now going to go to 125 beds—those extra 25 beds are for females which is very important because it’s not just a correctional complex, it also provides those wraparound mental health services.", "But, in fact, that facility—because my predecessor Bob Runciman announced the St. Lawrence Valley treatment centre when he was the Solicitor General—was actually going to be a 200-bed facility. During the 2003 election, the then Liberal candidate Dalton McGuinty announced that if he became Premier, they were going to honour that expansion—they were going to expand it to 200 beds—which, immediately upon becoming the Premier, Dalton McGuinty cancelled that project.", "We are now building capacity back in Brockville that was taken away by the left-wing agenda of Ontario. They are in favour of law and order on PAO Day when all the police are here, but then in the chamber, they revert back to their normal mantra.", "So just to show that we had a plan to build that capacity in the 1990s, and the second that the Liberal-NDP agenda took over in 2003 for 15 years, that was one of literally the first cuts—regardless of what was said on the campaign trail—the decision was made to stop that, and we’re now just building that old capacity back.", "Thanks to Minister Kerzner for the announcement and thank you for providing the municipality the certainty that they need around that plant." ] }, { "speaker": "Mrs. Robin Martin", "text": [ "We’re investing in justice." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Clark", "text": [ "We are investing in justice; it’s very important. That is part of this bill.", "I’m going to talk about the HART hubs, the homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hubs. A lot of conversation about it here today from the opposition. I’ve got a community that can’t wait. They applied. The one thing that this program did in August at AMO when Minister Jones announced it, all of my municipal officials—all on board with it. We had a situation where, just before the last election, I announced six treatment beds and six withdrawal management beds—", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Clark", "text": [ "I know, it was great. I applaud it. I talked about it in the election. What happened was the agency gave the beds back. The member for Peterborough–Kawartha was actually very happy because those beds were transferred.", "So now, finally, we have the mental health and addiction agency that covers both my riding and the member for Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston’s riding. We’re now working together, we’ve got all the mayors, all the municipal officials, all the stakeholders—we are now working together, and now we’ve got this wonderful homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hub—the HART hub—application that covers not just the member for Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston’s riding, but my riding as well.", "It is part of what Minister Tibollo talks about over and over again, it’s the hub-and-spoke model, it’s the continuum of care, where you’ve got everybody working together to make sure that we get the outcomes we want.", "Unlike some of the members across, who are dealing with an announcement that Minister Jones made at AMO, it was really appreciated by AMO, by local mayors. And it didn’t matter whether you were a big-city mayor or whether you were a small township mayor. People appreciated the significant investment that our government was making and the fact that it aligned so very well with Minister Tibollo’s continuum of care. I had him in the riding for one of his famous round tables. The guy literally is the most travelled minister in the government. It’s that old “I’ve been everywhere, man.” He’s been everywhere. He’s been everywhere in this province.", "The one thing that I want to give him credit for—he really unified all those people. I’m not going to speak for MPP Jordan, but we’ve had a lot of fractious discussions amongst mental health and addiction providers. There’s been periodically a divergence of opinion on how to handle things. But now, because of Minister Jones and the ministry with these HART hubs, we now have everybody on the same page that this is the way to move forward.", "I’m very, very pleased, Speaker, that we’re having this conversation, because in ridings like mine, where we need to build capacity in our correction facilities, where we don’t have those treatment beds and those withdrawal-management beds, we need to have that coordinated opportunity so that mayors and agencies who want to provide supportive housing—I’m going to pick on MPP Jordan, because we do share so many resources in Lanark and Leeds-Grenville, that it finally gets people on the same page. It finally has people working. We’ve got about over 100 on our by-name list in Leeds-Grenville, and I’ve got the mayors talking about building a supportive housing project that’s 150 units. It would effectively wipe out the by-name list in the riding. It would be unbelievable if we were able to do that.", "We now have mayors and agencies and non-profits, people like the John Howard Society, folks that come out of church basements. There’s a great hub that is operating in the riding that provides overnight accommodation and other groups like Indwell.", "I’m looking at the Minister of Sport. I toured a facility in his riding, or in Hamilton: top-notch organization that wants to work and be a partner with the government, that wants to make sure that they take those housing dollars and leverage them with the mental health dollars.", "Again, I want to give credit to Minister Jones and Minister Tibollo for being able to do that work, provide that opportunity. I know in my community we can’t wait—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "I apologize to the government House leader. However, pursuant to standing order 50(c), I am now required to interrupt the proceedings and announce that there have been six and a half hours of debate on the motion for second reading of this bill. This debate will therefore be deemed adjourned unless the government House leader directs the debate to continue." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Clark", "text": [ "Speaker, please adjourn the debate.", "Second reading debate deemed adjourned." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "The government House leader is seeking unanimous consent to adjourn. No? To see the clock? Hang on a second.", "Orders of the day. I apologize." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Clark", "text": [ "Madam Speaker, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to see the clock at 6." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Now the government House leader is seeking unanimous consent to see the clock at 6. Agreed? Agreed." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Billy Pang", "text": [ "Speaker, I move that, in the opinion of this House, November should be proclaimed as Community Safety Month in Ontario." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Pursuant to standing order 100, you have 12 minutes for your presentation." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Billy Pang", "text": [ "I’m grateful for the opportunity to rise in this Legislature today to present my motion that, in the opinion of this House, November should be proclaimed as Community Safety Month in Ontario. This motion addresses a critical issue affecting Ontarians across the province: the increasing prevalence of crime and the urgent need to enhance community safety and crime prevention efforts.", "Crime is no longer just a distant headline. For many, it has become a harsh and personal reality. From break-ins and car thefts to violent home invasions, these incidents disrupt the lives of our family, friends and neighbours. They rob us of peace of mind and undermine the sense of security we deserve. It is deeply concerning that many Ontarians now feel unsafe in their own homes, places meant to provide comfort and sanctuary. Parents worry for their children. Seniors, who deserve to enjoy their retirement years in peace, feel vulnerable.", "1550", "This is not the Ontario we strive to build. This is why I have tabled this motion to establish November as Community Safety Month.", "Before discussing the broader impact of this motion, I want to acknowledge the leadership of the Honourable Michael Kerzner, our Solicitor General, and his dedicated team. Their work on the Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act, 2024, demonstrates their unwavering commitment to addressing public safety concerns.", "This important legislation enacts two acts and amends various others to strengthen public safety and the justice system, helping to address the pressing issues facing our communities. I am proud to announce that, echoing to my motion, the schedule of this act enacts the Community Safety and Crime Prevention Month Act, 2024, proclaiming the month of November each year as Community Safety and Crime Prevention Month.", "Speaker, this initiative stems from a clear recognition: Safety is a shared responsibility. Our goal is to bring together residents, law enforcement and local organizations to promote crime prevention strategies that reduce crime rates, increase public awareness and foster a stronger sense of vigilance and community engagement. It builds on the success of Ontario’s police services, which already observe Crime Prevention Week each November.", "Led by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police and the Ministry of the Solicitor General, Crime Prevention Week has long raised awareness about the importance of police and community partnerships. By extending this effort to an entire month, we create more opportunities to showcase successful initiatives and empower citizens to take proactive roles in protecting their communities.", "Crime prevention isn’t just about law enforcement. It is about empowering citizens to be proactive in protecting their homes and neighbourhoods. During the month of November, we would highlight efforts of those already working tirelessly in this space, share valuable resources with the public and educate residents on practical steps they can take to enhance safety in their everyday lives. By formally dedicating this month to community safety and crime prevention, we send a very strong message: We all have a role to play in keeping our communities safe.", "This initiative also aligns with the broader goals of building trust and co-operation between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Community safety is not just about responding to crime but about preventing it before it happens. It is about encouraging strategies like community policing, which fosters trust and accountability through partnerships between law enforcement and residents. Regular engagement and presence by police in communities can divert crime, provide reassurance and build stronger bonds of trust.", "But the responsibility for safety extends beyond law enforcement. It involves empowering citizens with knowledge, tools and resources to protect themselves and their loved ones.", "Community Safety Month would focus on three key areas. The first one is raising awareness. This initiative would shine a spotlight on ongoing crime prevention efforts and educate the public about emerging challenges, such as cybercrime, scams and identity theft. By fostering greater awareness, we can encourage individuals to stay informed about threats in their neighbourhood and online, enabling them to take proactive measures to protect themselves and their loved ones.", "The second key area is education and resources. Knowledge is a powerful tool in crime prevention. The month would focus on equipping residents with the skills and resources they need to protect their homes and neighbourhoods, providing access to tools, technologies and training programs that empower communities.", "The third key area is collaboration. Crime prevention is most effective when communities come together to share ideas, resources and responsibilities. Partnerships between residents, law enforcement, local organizations and all levels of government are essential for fostering trust and ensuring that safety initiatives reflect the unique needs of each community.", "Through initiatives like neighbourhood watch programs, community policing efforts and safety task forces, we can create a network of vigilance and co-operation, where citizens and authorities work side by side. We not only reduce crime but also build stronger, more connected communities where everyone feels valued and protected.", "Speaker, our government has already been taking decisive actions to enhance community safety. We have invested in law enforcement and added more boots on the ground by:", "—removing barriers to entry at the Ontario Police College, including waiving the $17,000 tuition fee for basic constable training;", "—eliminating the post-secondary education requirement for aspiring officers;", "—ensuring that individuals with real-world experiences can serve their communities; and", "—launching police recruitment round tables to address recruitment shortfalls and enhance front-line policing.", "These measures have already shown results. In 2023, we celebrated the largest graduation class in the history of the Ontario Police College, a result of our commitment to putting more boots on the ground.", "However, the challenges we face cannot be tackled solely by provincial government. Weak federal bail policies continue to undermine our efforts to keep Ontarians safe. Earlier this week, Ontarians were shocked by an incident that highlights the failure of the current bail system. Just before 2 a.m. on Monday, a speeding stolen luxury SUV collided with a TTC bus in a devastating crash. Four passengers and the bus driver sustained injuries, including a female passenger who was ejected from the bus due to the force of the impact.", "I want to take a moment to send our thoughts to the injured passengers and the TTC driver. We are grateful that everyone is expected to recover.", "The aftermath of this crash revealed a terrible reality: Two of the four individuals in the stolen vehicle were out on bail, including one charged with a violent robbery. Despite their prior offences, these individuals were released into the community under the federal government’s bail system. It is a stark reminder that the weak federal bail policies put communities at risk, allowing individuals with a history of violence to reoffend while out on bail.", "Our government continues to call on the federal government to urgently amend the Criminal Code by introducing concrete changes that will tighten bail legislation to protect public safety and keep repeat and violent offenders off the street. We have seen a demonstrated failure of Canada’s bail system, resulting in harm to the people of Ontario and those who keep our province safe. We will not stand by while our federal government refuses to hear that the system that they broke is not working.", "Another critical aspect of crime prevention is investing in our youth. Early intervention is key to breaking the cycle of crime and offering young people pathways to success. Through the great work of the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, we launched programs like the Ontario Youth Mentorship Program and Stop Now and Plan, offering at-risk youth positive pathways to success, breaking the cycle of crime before it begins.", "1600", "Community Safety Month will amplify this effort by bringing together municipalities, organizations and individuals who collaborate on shared goals. It’s also an opportunity to address emerging safety issues such as cyber security and mental health. This motion is more than about preventing crime; it’s about creating a province where everyone feels secure, supported and connected.", "The designation of this November as Community Safety Month also allows us to recognize the tireless efforts of those who work every day to protect us: police officers, emergency responders, health care workers, community leaders and safety organizations. Again, this is not just about responding to crime but preventing it. The motion is a step forward in our collective journey towards a safer, more secure Ontario for all." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens", "text": [ "It is always an honour and a privilege to be able to rise in this House as the official opposition’s critic for the Solicitor General as well as representing all residents of St. Catharines in my riding, and to be able to stand before you as we address an issue that touches every Ontarian, regardless of where they live, where they work or raise their families: the importance of community safety.", "Safety is always the most important factor that families consider when choosing where to live, where they start their families, where they’re going to raise their children and live their lives day to day. It is not a political issue; it’s a moral one, one that we can all understand and appreciate regardless of our political stripes.", "Safety is the foundation upon which strong communities are built. It is the peace of mind parents feel when their children walk to school. It is the assurance that our seniors have when they take a walk around their neighbourhoods. It is the confidence of business owners opening up their doors each and every day, knowing that the money, time and effort they put in will be appreciated and, more importantly, respected. However, community safety is not something we can take for granted. It requires deliberate action, collaboration and awareness.", "As we consider proclaiming November as Community Safety Month, it is vital to acknowledge the challenges Ontarians face. Our communities are diverse and so are the safety concerns and considerations in each community, and each community is definitely different. When we hear “community safety,” we often automatically associate it with crime rates. And while crime levels are an important indicator of safety, they are far from the only factor. Safety is also about creating environments where people feel protected, people feel valued and supported, physically, mentally and emotionally.", "In some communities, road safety is top of their list, especially as we see an alarming increase in pedestrian and cyclist injuries. Ontario is a province that should be forward-thinking in its transportation policies, yet recent decisions to rip out bike lanes demonstrate a backwards approach. Such moves not only jeopardize the safety but also disregard the importance of sustainable urban planning.", "In other areas, the focus might be addressing crime or strengthening relationships between law enforcement and residents. Trust is a cornerstone of safety, and we know that this trust has been eroded in many parts of our province. This is why initiatives like increased funding for community policing, better training for officers and culturally sensitive approaches to law enforcement are essential.", "And then, there’s the crisis of domestic and intimate partner violence. I read about women being murdered on a weekly basis as the result of IPV, intimate partner violence. Despite these tragedies, this province has yet to declare IPV an epidemic, a move that unlocks critical funding and resources to address this issue head-on. How can we claim to prioritize community safety when half of our population—dominantly women—still live in fear?", "Community safety must also include mental health. The Ontario NDP has long advocated universal publicly funded mental health care. We know that untreated mental health issues are often at the root of safety concerns, whether it’s someone in crisis posing a danger to themselves or others, or someone unable to access support they need to stay housed, employed or engaged in their community.", "As we consider Community Safety Month, let us also consider the impact of systemic barriers to mental health services. The official opposition’s proposal to include mental health care under OHIP would be transformative, ensuring that no one is left behind simply because they cannot afford the treatment.", "Vulnerable populations are often the ones most in need of safety measures. Indigenous communities, for instance, continue to face inadequate emergency services and housing that fails to meet basic safety standards. Those experiencing homelessness are disproportionately exposed to danger. Without access to stable housing, safety becomes a daily struggle. Community Safety Month could serve as a platform to address these inequities, shining a light on the need for affordable housing and wraparound supports.", "Speaker, I want to return to the issue of intimate partner violence, because it is urgent and continues to take lives. Declaring IPV an epidemic would send a very, very powerful message that we are serious about protecting women and children from harm. It would unlock resources to funding emergency shelters, provide legal supports for survivors and educate communities about prevention. I urge my colleagues to take a stand. Community Safety Month would be an ideal time to launch initiatives aimed at tackling intimate partner violence, showing Ontarians—all Ontarians—that this House is committed to all of their safety.", "Proclaiming November as Community Safety Month is not just symbolism. It’s about taking action. It’s about creating a framework for awareness, collaboration and change. During this month, there need to be well-thought-out measures in place to address safety issues—action like hosting community events and workshops to educate people about road safety, crime prevention and mental health resources, or consulting stakeholders such as law enforcement, health care providers, schools and non-profit organizations to develop comprehensive safety strategies.", "Earlier today, I met with Ontario undergrad student alliances—six of them. And one of their four main priorities was to eliminate on-campus violence and hate crimes with the province’s assistance. We can do that, Madam Speaker.", "Students do not feel safe. They do not feel safe. They do not feel supported. And in an environment like a university or a college campus, where young students are advocating or discussing sensitive topics, it matters more than ever, especially to everyone in this House.", "Speaker, community safety is not a luxury. We know that. It is a necessity. It is the foundation of our lives, our families. It’s the foundation of our communities. Declaring November as Community Safety Month is definitely the first step, and this government needs to show Ontarians that issues like intimate partner violence and gender-based violence—or safety of our cyclists, for example—are real priorities for them, for Ontarians.", "This House, all of us here, let’s not wait for another tragedy to strike our communities to finally act. Let’s act. Let’s take this step together. Let’s, across party lines, take this step to build a safer, stronger Ontario. Let’s show Ontarians that we care.", "1610" ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Lorne Coe", "text": [ "I’m pleased to join today’s debate and speak in support of MPP Pang’s motion.", "Our most fundamental responsibility as elected representatives is to uphold the safety of our communities. Communities like the town of Whitby are absolutely everything, and the safety of those communities is something that we can’t take for granted.", "Community safety is a top priority for this government. There has never been a government that has cared more about our public safety than our government under the leadership of Premier Ford. MPP Pang’s motion highlights the government’s ongoing commitment to enhance community safety in Ontario by continuing to help ensure that police services and the communities they serve have the resources they need to respond to major incidents and urgent situations.", "The pathway, though, to community safety and well-being takes hard work and, yes, ongoing collaboration with the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, the Police Association of Ontario, local police services like the Durham Regional Police Service, neighbourhood watches and local businesses in chambers of commerce and business improvement areas.", "As a government, we’re investing in our women and men in uniform, with more tools and equipment and more officers on the ground so we can stop crime and build safer, stronger communities across the province. Providing law enforcement with the tools they require enables members to do more, keep communities safe and respond effectively to the complexities of modern crime. Together, we’re preventing crimes, protecting people and ensuring the safety and well-being of Ontario communities.", "There’s no modern-day precedent for the seriousness to which our government, led by Premier Ford, has taken public safety. And do you know what, Speaker? We’re only getting started." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Laura Smith", "text": [ "I truly appreciate the opportunity to rise today and speak to the motion put forth by my colleague, the member from Markham–Unionville. This motion to proclaim November as Community Safety Month in Ontario provides an opportunity to increase public awareness of community policing and crime prevention strategies as well as the role that they play in keeping our communities safe.", "It’s important to recognize that public safety is a collaborative project. It involves the hard work and partnership of government, law enforcement and community groups and organizations, among other actors. Community policing focuses heavily on proactive crime prevention and community-based resolution of unsafe and unsettling local activity.", "I want to thank my policing partners who have been there for us, including York Regional Police. Thornhill and the GTA have been through some very challenging times over the course of the last year post-October 7, and the YRP have worked in an effort to assist a community that feels targeted and marginalized. The YRP has, when necessary, inserted temporary command posts within key areas of our community, including the Promenade mall. Helping us feel safe is a good thing.", "But many of our safety partners include people who are also volunteers—people who are not a part of policing organization, but they’re part of not-for-profit organizations that patrol our neighbourhoods, sometimes late at night, and sometimes just for the sole purpose of our safety. This includes the not-for-profit, community-based organization Shomrim Toronto.", "Shomrim’s mission is to protect and serve the Jewish community of the greater Toronto area, including those located in Thornhill, but their services go far beyond the Jewish community, and they serve us in a holistic way, watching over all of our community regardless of a person’s background. I want to spotlight their important work in assisting local emergency services through a proactive community watch, providing direct incident response, safety patrols, awareness training, and also for their admirable community engagement.", "Born out of a rise of anti-Semitism and violence, Shomrim counters hate by promoting comfort, resilience and trust. Their commitment to improving public safety helps to foster a sense of security and is just one example of a community-based initiative that has become a vital resource towards enhancing public safety and security in Thornhill and the GTA.", "I want to give a huge shout-out to the members: Avi Grinberg, Kyle Klein, Jack Keslassy, Aryeh Ehrentreu, Baruch Singer, Avi Ciglen, Moe David, Menachem Silver, Stuart Sugar and Simmy Zieleniec.", "Organizations like Shomrim work in partnership with our police and law enforcement, and they are dedicated to ensuring safer communities. I’m proud that the Ontario government has implemented a variety of measures and initiatives aimed at prioritizing and enhancing public safety. These initiatives include offering grants for police services to apply for in collaboration with community partners to address local priority issues, such as hate crimes, and this accompanies an investment of more than $1.7 million under the Safer and Vital Communities Grant cycle, which focuses on preventing hate-motivated crimes through community collaboration.", "These government initiatives also include calling for federal bail reform, including amendments to the Criminal Code, that would tighten bail legislation and cracking down on auto theft and careless driving by creating a new provincial offence for fraudulent vehicle registrations. This aims to keep communities safer. And a previous $4-million investment in the victim support grant which enables police services in collaboration with community-based organizations or Indigenous communities to create new or develop existing community initiatives regarding domestic violence.", "These are just a few of the prudent measures that have been implemented towards achieving safer communities, acknowledging the significant role of community partnership and policing services in the collective pursuit of public safety. Increasing public awareness of these initiatives is such a positive and worthwhile endeavour, and I want to thank the House and I want to thank the member for allowing me to stand up and speak to this very important motion to highlight some of the significant community organizations in the riding of Thornhill and our policing partners that are doing so much for us every day. We so appreciate their efforts, and I can never give them enough accolades for creating an environment where we feel safe and we’re with our trusted partners. Thank you so much." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Catherine Fife", "text": [ "I want to thank the member from Markham–Unionville for bringing forward this private member’s bill to proclaim November as Community Safety Month, but I did want to use this opportunity, please, if you can get the government to pay attention to what’s actually happening in the justice system because community safety is connected to a fair and efficient justice system.", "As you all know when I brought forward Lydia’s Law, which was based on the Auditor General’s recommendations from 2019, to create some transparency and accountability in the justice system and to hold the Attorney General accountable so that we find out how many cases are actually being dispensed or thrown out of court because they’ve timed out—this happened to 1,326 sexual assault cases in 2022; it happened to 1,119 sexual assault cases in 2023. The count, thus far in the province of Ontario, is over 565 sexual assault cases.", "The police are here today. We had a great meeting with the Waterloo Regional Police Service, and I know London also had great meetings. Police do the good work in our community. They do the investigation, they gather the evidence and produce it to the crown, and then at the end of 18 months, two years, those criminals walk. Think of the waste of money, think of the waste of time and also think of the fact that we’re not interrupting cycles of crime in our communities.", "Just recently—I think it was last week—the former member Randy Hillier, who used to sit in this Legislature, who was charged with assaulting a police officer—his case timed out.", "I appreciate the efforts of the member from Markham–Unionville to declare November Community Safety Month and for us to be focused on what actually a safe community is, but at the end of the day, if the court system is releasing criminals back into our communities, our communities are less safe. I hope that we can all agree on this, Madam Speaker, and I hope that the member, in his true commitment to Community Safety Month, will go back to the Attorney General and pull out Lydia’s Law from the justice committee where it has been languishing, when the House leader at the time said he would expedite it.", "1620", "So let’s stay focused on community safety, but let’s also not take our eyes off the justice system, which unfortunately in the province of Ontario is very, very broken." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Aris Babikian", "text": [ "I rise today to speak in support of my colleague MPP Billy Pang’s motion to proclaim November as Community Safety Month in Ontario. This motion is a critical initiative that addresses the growing safety concerns in communities across our province, including my riding of Scarborough–Agincourt. By proclaiming November as Community Safety Month, we will bring much needed public attention to the vital issues of community safety, policing and crime prevention strategies.", "Community safety is fundamental to the well-being and prosperity of any society. When families, seniors and businesses feel safe, they thrive. Proclaiming November as Community Safety Month will create an annual opportunity to focus on educating the public about crime prevention, increasing collaboration between law enforcement and community organizations, and encouraging residents to actively participate in making their neighbourhoods safe.", "The rise in crime across Ontario is alarming. Scarborough–Agincourt is no stranger to the safety concerns that are increasingly prevalent across Ontario. Auto theft has surged in my community, as it has across the province. These crimes not only cause financial losses, but also leave families feeling violated and unsafe.", "The revolving door of justice is a significant problem. Repeat offenders are often back on our streets due to inadequate bail conditions. While I commend the provincial government’s initiatives to bolster bail compliance teams, we urgently need further reforms and co-operation from the federal government to address this issue comprehensively.", "One of the most pressing issues in Scarborough–Agincourt is the situation surrounding the Delta Hotel Shelter and the homeless encampment. For over three years, residents of Village Green Square and the Kennedy-Sheppard neighbourhood have faced an ongoing decline in safety and quality of life. Incidents of drug dealing, public intoxication, vandalism and even witnessed sexual acts in public spaces have created a climate of fear. Parents are fearful for their children. Even the parking garage near my office has become a hot spot for safety concerns. Furthermore, my next-door neighbour in my office building has been broken into and robbed.", "The challenges in my riding go far beyond the issues surrounding the Delta Hotel. Vandalism incidents, such as those targeting the Toronto Swatow Baptist Church, underscore the broader safety concerns affecting our communities. Seniors’ residences at Tam O’Shanter Towers, Shepherd Lodge and Shepherd Village have reported frequent harassment by homeless individuals, which has left many feeling unsafe in their own neighbourhoods.", "Scarborough–Agincourt’s small businesses and shops are grappling with theft, robberies, vandalism and use of violence. These incidents further strain an already fragile local economy. A stronger police presence, better responsiveness and visible community engagement are urgently needed to restore confidence and ensure the safety of all our residents and businesses.", "My heartfelt gratitude goes to the courageous men and women of the Toronto police 42 Division for their vigilance, quick response and action to protect the residents of Scarborough–Agincourt. Their commitment inspires hope and security in our local neighbourhoods.", "Initiatives such as the senior residents of Tam O’Shanter Towers re-establishing their community group also demonstrate how local efforts can foster safety and unity. The advocacy of Agincourt Village Community Association is another community initiative worth admiring. They are trailblazers in safeguarding our neighbourhoods, residents and businesses.", "I firmly believe in the power of communities coming together to create meaningful changes. I will encourage everyone in this House to support the motion." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Billy Pang", "text": [ "Thank you, Madam Speaker, for this opportunity to present my proposed motion that will significantly enhance public safety and community well-being across our province. I would like to express gratitude to my colleagues from Whitby, Thornhill and Scarborough–Agincourt for their strong support of this motion. I would also like to acknowledge the inputs from the NDP members who shared their perspectives during the discussion of my motion.", "I also want to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the Honourable Michael Kerzner, Solicitor General, and his team for introducing the Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act, 2024, earlier this week. This important legislation underscores our collective commitment to addressing public safety and highlights the crucial role that community safety initiatives play in keeping our province safe.", "Our goal is simple yet profound: to bring together residents, law enforcement and local organizations to promote crime prevention strategies that reduce crime, raise public awareness and foster a culture of vigilance and community engagement. By officially dedicating November to community safety, we are sending a clear message to all Ontarians. We all have a role in keeping our communities safe. It’s not just about reacting to crime, it’s about preventing it, creating stronger neighbourhoods and building a province that is resilient in the face of any challenge.", "This initiative supports community policing, strengthens partnerships between law enforcement and the communities they serve, and encourages all Ontarians to take part in safeguarding their homes, their neighbourhoods and their future. With your support, we can create a culture of safety that endures long beyond the month of November, one where communities are equipped and empowered to face the challenges ahead. I encourage each of to you consider the benefit of this motion, not just in reducing crime but also strengthening the social fabric of neighbourhoods.", "In closing, I urge my colleagues to support this motion. Let us champion a month dedicated to empowering communities, educating the public and solidifying our commitment to a safe and secure Ontario. I hope that together we can move this—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "The time provided for private members’ public business has now expired.", "Mr. Pang has moved private member’s notice of motion number 136. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.", "Motion agreed to." ] }, { "speaker": "The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Donna Skelly)", "text": [ "All matters relating to private members’ public business having been completed, the House stands adjourned until 9 o’clock tomorrow morning, November 21, 2024.", "The House adjourned at 1628.", "", "", "", "", "", "" ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Natalie Pierre", "text": [ "I move that, in the opinion of this House, the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement should continue consultations with stakeholders regarding how to address condo owners’ and managers’ concerns related to safety by investigating issues related to records access in condos that contain personal information while working to maintain the transparency necessary to support good condominium governance and oversight." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (MmeLucille Collard)", "text": [ "Pursuant to standing order 100, the member has 12 minutes for her presentation." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Natalie Pierre", "text": [ "Good evening, everyone. I am pleased to rise in the House this evening and speak to my private member’s motion calling for the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement to continue consultations with stakeholders regarding how to address condo owners’ and managers’ safety concerns by investigating issues related to access to condo records that contain personal information, while working to maintain the transparency necessary to support good condominium governance and oversight.", "The objective of this motion is to find solutions that will address condo owners’ and directors’ concerns related to their safety while ensuring the smooth operation and good governance of condominium corporations. Currently, under the Condominium Act, 1998, a condo unit owner has the right to request records from the corporation. These records contain a listing of all unit owners, their address for service, which is most likely their home address, and their phone numbers. Under the current legislation, the condominium board of directors must fulfill the request. No reason needs to be provided.", "Constituents in my riding of Burlington have approached me with concerns about this requirement, and in the last few years, board members, property managers and condo unit owners have expressed growing and serious concerns about their safety and privacy rights.", "That fear became even more real in December 2022 when a condominium owner in Vaughan, Ontario, approached several units in a condominium building, killing five people, including three condo board members. One other person was injured.", "As we approach the second anniversary of this tragedy, we are reminded that protections for condominium owners and elected board members must increase. Condo board positions are unpaid volunteer positions and board members are resigning or not running for re-election because they fear for their personal safety. Speaker, this is a growing concern across our province.", "Condominium corporations have a statutory duty to operate and manage the corporation, the units and the common elements. There is also a duty to protect the safety and security of a condominium community.", "In recent years, condominium living has become a popular choice for individuals and families seeking affordability and convenience in what we’ve seen to be a very competitive housing environment that has been growing over the past few decades. As our province continues to urbanize, condominiums have become a key part of the housing market, addressing a range of challenges in housing from affordability to land scarcity. Many cities across the greater Toronto and Hamilton area are increasingly vertical. Condominiums have evolved from a niche housing option to a dominant form of residential development in Ontario, particularly in urban areas like Toronto, Ottawa, Mississauga and also in my riding of Burlington.", "In 2023, condos represented approximately 30% to 40% of all new housing starts in the province, reflecting their growing popularity. First-time buyers, young professionals and retirees often turn to condos as an alternative to traditional housing.", "Condo owners are generally only responsible for the interior of their units and the condo association handles the maintenance of shared spaces. Condo fees, paid by owners, fund the maintenance, repair and operation of shared amenities, things like elevators, hallways and recreation facilities. In Ontario, we have seen these fees climb steadily, often outpacing inflation. This is due to several factors: aging buildings requiring costly repairs and escalating utility and insurance costs.", "Increasing condo fees can create financial strain for owners, adding stress and anxiety for existing owners. The consequences are real. The rising cost of living and increasing fees can mean making tough choices about living arrangements, leaving many owners feeling concerned about being priced out of the homes that they worked so very hard to own.", "These rising costs and misdirected frustrations sometimes lead to conflict and, in rare but deeply concerning cases, mental health decline and even violence. Recent high-profile incidents underscore how misdirected anger and frustration can boil over, putting volunteer board members—most often condo owners themselves—in harm’s way.", "Many condo owners and board members have reported experiencing bullying and harassment at their front doors and are questioning the required disclosure of their personal information. They would like their home addresses or unit numbers to be shielded for their protection and the protection of their loved ones. People should feel safe in their own homes, and the reality is, some people are concerned that their name and address, including their unit number, can be disclosed and shared. Other condo unit owners, who are renting their condo out and may be living at a different address, are concerned their home address is being released to someone they might not even know.", "Key stakeholders, including the Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario, the Canadian Condominium Institute and numerous property managers, have come forward to tell the very same story.", "Both stakeholders and condo owners are looking for changes. I have met with local Burlington residents and with stakeholders from across the greater Toronto and Hamilton area and have received numerous letters of support for this work from board members, owners and condo management companies from across the province.", "I mentioned previously the mass shooting in a Vaughan condo, where five residents were killed. Similar incidents of violence have been reported in other jurisdictions, and unfortunately, harassment is becoming more common in condo communities.", "The goal of this motion is to enhance the safety and privacy of owners, directors, property managers and the broader condominium community.", "A local stakeholder in my riding representing 13 of Burlington’s downtown condominiums has stated, “I don’t know of any other elected official who has their home address publicized twice a year, it’s unheard of.” This stakeholder is in touch with condo boards across Ontario, and I understand the same issue has been identified in many communities.", "Board directors, who are often volunteers, deserve to be able to conduct their duties without fear, harassment, violence or intrusion. Board members are resigning out of fear for their safety and leaving the community without leadership, and fewer residents are putting up their hand to volunteer for these roles, fearing personal risk.", "Keeping people safe is a priority for our government, and I am proud of the work that we have done and continue to do to support a safer province. We have advocated for bail reform, and we have enhanced our efforts around bail compliance. We are fighting auto crime and enhancing safety on college and university campuses in the province. This motion is another opportunity to enhance safety for many Ontario residents.", "Currently, the population of Ontario is about 16 million people, and about 1.7 million Ontarians live in a condo. They live in 987,302 units, in 12,690 condo corporations, supported by more than 43,000 condo board directors.", "We know that the number of condos will increase as communities move forward to meet the demand for all types of housing. People want to live within a community and be able to know and trust their neighbours. Feeling safe is an important part of the foundation for healthy communities, and anything that we can do to support safer condominium communities now will have huge benefits in the future.", "1810", "We know that the number of condominium communities will continue to expand, especially in areas around key transportation hubs. In my community of Burlington, we see condo communities being developed around each of the three GO train stations located within the city boundary. The growth of condominiums in Ontario reflects the evolving needs of residents and the changing face of urban and even suburban living.", "Given the 1.7 million people currently living in condos and the significant increase of condo residents that we see in the near-term, it’s essential that we pay attention to their concerns that this growth is bringing. It’s essential that we engage and consult with condo owners, with property managers and key stakeholders in developing solutions and opportunities to enhance safety for residents, owners and for board members.", "From discussions in my home community, I know that condo residents and stakeholders representing condo associations are ready and eager to engage in discussion. Stakeholders have brought forward several options that will both enhance safety for condo owners as well as provide transparency to support good governance. It’s important that we balance condo owners’ rights to access records with owners’ concerns related to safety and privacy.", "Condo living, like any shared community, requires co-operation and respect amongst neighbours. Speaker, safety is a collective responsibility, and we all play a role in fostering a safe environment, no matter where we choose to call home. Safeguarding condo unit owners’ personal information is not just about protecting sensitive data; it is about maintaining trust, privacy and security. By working together to protect this information, condo communities can foster an environment where residents feel secure.", "Everyone deserves to feel safe in Ontario, especially in their homes." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (MmeLucille Collard)", "text": [ "I’m going to go to further debate." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Jessica Bell", "text": [ "I’d like to congratulate the member for Burlington on this important motion, which I’d like to start by reading out:", "“That, in the opinion of this House, the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement should continue consultations with stakeholders regarding how to address condo owners’ and managers’ concerns related to safety by investigating issues related to records access in condos that contain personal information, while working to maintain the transparency necessary to support good condominium governance and oversight.”", "It is a long motion, and it matters. I personally know John Di Nino. He was the volunteer condo board president at the Jane Street and Rutherford Road building. He is the president of ATU Canada. That’s how I know him. He’s a leader in the work to build a strong public transit system operated by a unionized workforce. I’ve worked with him for many years.", "On December 18, 2022, John Di Nino opened the door of his home to find Francesco Villi, another resident, holding a semi-automatic handgun. This is his quote: “Unequivocally, I was an intended target. He pointed at me and for some reason the gun didn’t go off.” John wasn’t hit, but his wife, Maureen, was. A bullet went through her lip and exited the back of her neck. “Just based on how the bullet exited, it was less than a millimetre from being catastrophic.” Maureen was the lone survivor of five people who were killed that day. After multiple surgeries, it is good to know that Maureen is doing okay. I saw them about two weeks ago at an event, and we are all beyond grateful that she survived and he survived. We also mourn the loss of life—the needless loss of life. Francesco Villi was clearly a troubled man with serious, ongoing mental health issues and ongoing paranoia. He had been harassing condo residents for years. It was certainly a police matter.", "Even though this is an example of an extreme incident, I do agree with the member for Burlington, because I speak to the same stakeholders and condo board associations, and they’re telling me very clearly that incidents of assault and harassment are on the rise in condominiums. It speaks to the need to ensure that for condo board members—many of them are volunteers; they’re volunteers, most of them—and property managers their safety is upheld.", "I also note, and I see this in the motion as well, that there is a need for balance, because many condo residents need to know who their condo board members are so that these board members are accountable to the residents they serve. So, who gets access to a condo board’s personal information? How do we navigate that? That’s what this issue is really about. The reason why that’s also important, why there’s a need for balance, is because condo board members oversee, in some cases, multi-million-dollar budgets to maintain a building that houses more people than small towns in Ontario. Their decisions affect the lives of residents. They can make residents’ lives very pleasant, and they can make people’s lives a misery. I appreciate that this motion recognizes this balance and calls for a plan.", "I have spoken to condo associations about this issue and I, probably like you, have been thinking, “Well, how do we navigate this issue between safety and transparency at the same time?” I was pleased to see a letter from the Canadian Condominium Institute and their joint safety and security legislation committee that put forward practical proposals that navigate that narrow pathway that has to be walked. They include things like, an owner must give a reason for wanting a condo board owner’s address, so that’s not just given out to anyone; they have to have a reason. Number 2, they recommend establishing mandatory harassment and communication policies, so there’s rules on how condo owners can communicate with board members. This means condo board members need to be treated with respect. They also recommended training for board members, including safety and security training. I think these are reasonable requests and I’m going to assume that the Ontario government has received a similar letter and understands that there are practical proposals that people are putting forward that the ministry is looking at considering. I am pleased to see that.", "I want to spend the last five minutes of my time talking a little bit about the condominium sector overall. As the member opposite mentioned, there are over 1.7 million people living in condos right now. And while there have been some improvements, and I’ve always been pleased to see progress on that, the condo sector in Ontario remains—quite frankly, it’s not as regulated as it should be. There is inadequate regulation and oversight of developers when they build the building and there is inadequate regulation and oversight over condo property managers and condo boards. In many cases, condo residents have little recourse if they encounter problems within their home. It’s the reality today.", "I live in University–Rosedale, so I have Yorkville, I have Bay Street. I get many calls from individuals who live in condos, who are furious, stressed, financially strapped, who are shocked to learn that there is no easy recourse for them if they have issues with 24/7 Airbnb investment properties on their floor or a property manager that refuses to do the necessary maintenance to get a swimming pool operating again or a condo party room available for people to use again. Or they have situations where there is a leak in the unit above them and it has affected their home, yet they somehow are on the hook for repairing their home, sometimes thousands of dollars, even though the leak was not their fault.", "They’re told, when they call the regulatory agencies, that there’s very little that can be done. Sometimes these people are forced to go to court, which means they’re spending upwards of $30,000, maybe fixing a $30,000 problem. They’re spending years in the process of doing it, undergoing untold stress, having to hire lawyers or paralegals. It’s not necessary.", "The reason why it is so incredibly important that we move forward on effectively regulating the condominium sector is because we know that as we grow as a province, more and more people are going to be living in condos. As I mentioned, they are, in some cases, the size of small towns, housing upwards of 2,000 people. Things can get stressful when you’re living in a vertical way, with 2,000 people above and below you, sharing elevators and common areas. People need to have recourse. There need to be rules. They need to be enforced.", "There are a few things that we are recommending. I know that the ministry is currently undergoing a consultation process with some regulations that they are looking at introducing. We are really pleased to see that. I am very hopeful that those regulations are going to be introduced and passed.", "1820", "One of the regulations that I think I want to just highlight is a decision to put into force sections of the condo act that were passed in 2015 that haven’t been enforced yet. One that is quite noticeable is some rules that would strengthen protections for buyers of condos by requiring developers to use a standard legal contract and fully disclose accurate information about current and future condo fees. This is a really good one, and I’m really hopeful this gets passed in full. The reason why is because if you’re a first-time homebuyer and you buy a condo based on a diagram—at spec, the building hasn’t been built yet—you could find that, when you move into that home on that first day, the home that you expected and imagined as it was being built is actually different from the one that you actually got. It might be smaller. There might not be all the amenities that you expected, like a pool. The reason is because developers are not required, at this point, to have a standard legal contract, and they’re not required to ensure that the drawings they provide match what the individual actually gets. There are some problems with that, and I’m pleased to see the government recognizes that issue as well.", "There are a few other measures that I’d like to highlight that I hope the government opposite can consider as they go through this regulatory review. Strengthen the Condominium Authority Tribunal: The government has already made some movements on that. They are allowing people who have nuisance issues to go to the tribunal to have their disputes resolved in a pretty cheap way—I don’t know what it costs, $100 to apply? It’s very different from going to court—much quicker, much faster. Expand it even further so that it covers the most common issues that residents face. The most common issues that residents face are issues with developers and the building that’s being built’s defects, and also issues with property managers not doing their job properly and not maintaining the building. They’re the key ones. My recommendation is that CAT is expanded to include those matters.", "We’re also calling for a strengthening of the two regulatory agencies that are responsible for overseeing condo boards and condo property managers. I’m getting into the weeds here, but it’s the Condominium Authority of Ontario and the Condominium Management Regulatory Authority of Ontario. Those two agencies need to do a better job of regulating the boards and the property managers, and they need to have the enforcement power to hold these board members and property managers to account.", "That is the summary of what I have to say today. Thank you for the motion. I’m pleased that you are introducing it. I’m looking forward to seeing it move forward into legislation in future bills." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (MmeLucille Collard)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Laura Smith", "text": [ "It’s my pleasure to rise today and speak in support of the motion to safeguard Ontario condominium owners brought forward by my colleague the member from Burlington, and in support of better safety for our condominium owners who serve on their condominium boards. As the representative of Thornhill, members in our community sadly witnessed up close the kind of extreme circumstances that can manifest in condominium living environments. A tragic mass shooting that occurred at the Vaughan Bellaria Residences in 2022 claimed the lives of five residents, three of whom were confirmed condo board members, and left one individual injured. We continue to remember and honour the lives lost and all of those who mourn them, and the first responders who tended to and investigated this tragedy. This senseless act of violence highlights the importance of ensuring the safety of condominium owners, board directors and members and the broader condominium community.", "While many may not be able to change the past, we can listen to the condo owners and the directors as they express concerns around safety and privacy to enhance protections for these groups moving forward. These concerns emerge amidst growing and escalating instances of tension, conflict, harassment, threats and, in the most extreme cases, violence. As my colleagues and those in this room who have provided letters of support have identified, under the current Condominium Act, privacy and safety concerns can be attributed to the ability of any condo owner to access the personal information of the owners and the board of directors, and this includes access to their home addresses. Board members can occupy the unique and vulnerable position of sharing a living space with the residents they represent, which can also pose a significant challenge to establishing and enforcing critical boundaries. This has the potential to raise serious concerns in light of rising conflicts, among other factors.", "Condominium boards and directors are often volunteers who donate their time to crucial responsibilities and duties like managing condo affairs, including property maintenance, finances, addressing residents’ complaints and requests, revising and enforcing rules and regulations, and liaising with external services and professionals—the list goes on and on. Most importantly, they represent their fellow residents. And, as with many volunteers across sectors, those who face and take on such voluntary, unpaid positions often become leaders with their communities.", "Volunteers in many ways are instrumental in the success and delivery of community services, and in the case of condo boards, their services help to ensure satisfactory living conditions for all. It’s highly concerning to hear of reports that elected board directors, managers and condominium owners are exceedingly stepping down or opting not to volunteer due to valid concerns about their safety and privacy. Action must be taken to mitigate these risks to the safety and privacy of both boards of directors and the owners wherever possible. Everyone deserves to feel comfortable and secure in the spaces where they live and volunteer.", "The motion put forward today advocates for continued consultations with stakeholders regarding how to address the serious safety concerns raised by owners and elected boards of directors. It encourages the investigation of issues related to access to condo records containing personal information while also recognizing that these efforts must be balanced with maintaining transparent condominium governance and oversight.", "Ultimately, this motion aims to increase the safety and privacy of condo residents and the governing bodies. I recognize that in my own riding of Thornhill, many residents have built diverse and thriving families, homes and communities through condominium living, and the safety of all Ontarians, including the 1.7 million who reside in condos, is a priority of our government. Therefore, it is with great enthusiasm that I offer my support for this motion and for the safeguarding of the condominium community." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (MmeLucille Collard)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Tom Rakocevic", "text": [ "I rise today, first, to give my respect and to commend the member for raising this. As she pointed out, there are almost a million people living in condominiums. We have over 12,000 condominium corporations across the province of Ontario. More units continue to be built over time, so we’re going to see that more and more people are going to continue to live there.", "When I speak to condominium owners and those who live in condos, they continue to say that they’d like to hear more of their representation. I know that ongoing consultations continue to be held—I’ve held my own—and this is very important, that we do find the balance to continue to give access to those seeking repairs and other things with the needs of security and safety that are obviously very just to look at, so I commend her for doing that.", "Since the government and one of their members are raising the issue of condominiums, there is so much that the Auditor General has pointed out within the sector, things that we look at, and I urge the government and I urge its members to continue to give time and respect to those living in condominiums.", "As well, as was mentioned by my colleague as well, the Condominium Authority Tribunal—slowly we continue to see more items being added for people to be able to find justice there. When people living in a condominium are seeking justice on an issue, often it’s very expensive. They find themselves in the courts, and both the members making complaints as well as the boards are continuing to pour money into it. So there are many ways, like expanding the authority of the tribunal, and this is something that is being considered.", "Again, I’m very happy to be debating this. I’m glad that we’re using time in the House to advance and improve the lives of those living within condominium authorities, and I hope we will continue to see members of this government and all of us working towards improving the lives of people living within condos." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (MmeLucille Collard)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Christine Hogarth", "text": [ "I’m pleased to stand in support of this motion, which addresses a critical issue for millions of Ontarians living in condominiums. The motion calls for the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement to consult stakeholders on how best to address condo safety concerns by investigating issues related to record access while balancing transparency and personal information protection. As a former condo owner and as a current—I’m part of a freehold, but we still have a condo board—this is really something that’s really important to us as we move forward.", "Speaking on behalf of Etobicoke–Lakeshore, we’re just such a growing community with so many different condo units added to our community. Some 64% of the dwellings in our riding of Etobicoke are condominiums, and that is growing. I was talking with our councillor, and there are 70,000 units that could come into the community in the next 20 years, so it is certainly something—when you look to the west of Toronto, you see growing skyscrapers. Well, that’s Humber Bay Shores in the great riding of Etobicoke–Lakeshore.", "1830", "There’s vertical growth happening all across Ontario. It is certainly, right now, concentrated in Toronto, but it is growing and moving out to Mississauga and Burlington and Oakville. So any type of information we can share with condo owners and changes we can make for the better are really important—as a condo owner.", "There are waterfront high-rises at Humber Bay Shores. We also have mixed-use developments in Mimico, in my area. Those are not the only housing options—there are neighbourhoods, there are homes, and they make a heart of any community. And when you see these communities growing, you see them growing up. If you’re driving down the Queensway in my riding, you’re going to see massive skyscrapers everywhere. Within the next 10, 20 years, that street is going to look totally different.", "With this incredible growth come challenges and concerns about safety. When I met with Jim down at Humber Bay Shores—he’s the president of one of our condo associations—some of the questions he was asking me were about the broader safety of condo representatives, as a management team. But it’s not just the safety of the people who sit on these boards, which—it is hard to get people to sit on these boards. It is a volunteer position.", "The condo authority has helped, as my colleague across the aisle just stated. They’ve done a really good job of increasing what they do to help out condo owners learning lessons. It might be something that they’re worried about—different-sized animals in the condo; what’s allowed and what’s not; smoking on balconies. So there’s a place for people to go. But we can still certainly look at other areas where we can help out these owners to make sure that if they have broader questions of governance—and make sure that they have accountability.", "Residents often express frustration over unclear communication channels with property management and limited access to records that they need to understand how decisions are impacting the safety of where they live. This is their home.", "The motion before us addresses a key component of good condominium governance: access to records. While transparency is essential for owners to hold condo boards and management accountable, we must also respect privacy laws and safeguard personal information. Striking that right balance is no small task, but it’s necessary to ensure that there’s safety and there’s trust—because, once again, this is your home.", "This motion calls for continued consultation, and that is vital. It acknowledges the diverse voices in this sector—owners, boards, managers and industry professionals—and seeks to bring them all together to find workable solutions.", "I’d like to stress here that this motion is about finding workable, common-sense solutions for everyone involved in condo living. These conversations have the potential to help address issues like how to safely manage access to financial documents, security plans or sensitive resident data while still empowering condo owners with the information they need to protect their investments and their well-being.", "Our condos are a hefty investment. In Humber Bay Shores, you’re looking at $1 million. It’s not a small investment, so you want to make sure that you’re protected and your family is protected.", "This is not an abstract issue. It impacts the daily lives of millions of people. Poor safety practices and lack of governance can lead to real vulnerabilities, from unauthorized building access to mismanagement of funds that are critical for maintaining secure environments. For the residents of Etobicoke–Lakeshore and indeed the communities across Ontario experiencing condo growth, addressing this issue is not optional; it is essential.", "I thank the member for Burlington for bringing this motion forward.", "Furthermore, as condos become an even more prominent housing solution across the province, we must set a standard for good management practices.", "By supporting this motion, we are not just addressing immediate concerns; we are laying the groundwork for a sustainable, well-regulated condominium sector that prioritizes safety, transparency and resident trust.", "I urge my colleagues to support this motion." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (MmeLucille Collard)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Andrew Dowie", "text": [ "With the time that’s remaining, I just want to show my lack of understanding of the condo areas—however, I have certainly been informed by my constituents. Jerry Dupuis was a constituent of mine—he passed away earlier this year—but he approached me with a very difficult circumstance involving his condo board. He was actually on the board himself and I could really get the sense of how these interpersonal conversations can go between board members and the owners, and that it spirals out of control when there are disputes.", "I understand totally what happened in Vaughan. When I was on Tecumseh town council, I had a colleague—his name was Mike Rohrer. He worked here at Queen’s Park in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and our addresses were actually published on the Internet—so anyone could know where we lived—as members of municipal council. Somebody actually walked into his house and started yelling at him when he was having dinner with his family, right in his kitchen. After that, the town took off our addresses from the website.", "Ultimately, when people know where you live, there’s a sense of safety and security that is now being risked. Vaughan was a tragedy that was absolutely horrible, and it really demonstrates the risks that people who volunteer to do better for governance and making difficult decisions have to run into. And so, volunteers who sit on these boards at condo buildings truly need some protections and to have a sense that they are not vulnerable to those that wish to cause harm.", "And with the couple of seconds left, I want to say thank you to John Recker, one of my friends who gave a letter in support of this motion. I’ll leave it there." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (MmeLucille Collard)", "text": [ "I’ll go back to the member for Burlington for a two-minute reply." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Natalie Pierre", "text": [ "Thank you to my colleagues for their remarks. As we continue to embrace condo living as a part of Ontario’s housing strategy, we need to ensure that these condominium communities are built not only on strong foundations of concrete and steel, but on principles of trust and respect for personal privacy. I know all MPPs in this House are committed to safety in their communities. It is important that we address concerns identified by condo owners, managers and board members to support healthy communities now and in the future.", "The goal of this motion, again, is to find solutions that address concerns related to safety while balancing those with good governance and smooth operation of condominium communities. We continue to hear from more and more condo owners and board members who have experienced bullying and harassment at their front doors, and in an age where information is as valuable as currency, securing condo owners’ information is necessary. We need to specify who can access records, under what circumstances, and with safeguards in place to ensure that everyone’s privacy is protected.", "It’s vital that we continue to engage condo owners and key stakeholders in developing solutions. Consultation and engagement are crucial to coming forward with opportunities that will enhance safety for everyone. That’s why the motion speaks to consultation as the next immediate step.", "Now is the time to act. People need to feel safe in their homes; it’s a basic need and one that we need to address." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (MmeLucille Collard)", "text": [ "The time provided for private members’ public business has expired.", "Ms. Pierre has moved private member’s notice of motion number 135. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I declare the motion carried.", "Motion agreed to." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (MmeLucille Collard)", "text": [ "All matters related to private members’ public business having been completed, we will now proceed to adjournment of debate.", "Pursuant to standing order 36, the question that this House do now adjourn is deemed to have been made." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (MmeLucille Collard)", "text": [ "The member for Ottawa South has given notice of dissatisfaction with the answer to a question given by the Minister of Finance. The member has up to five minutes to debate the matter, and the parliamentary assistant may reply for up to five minutes." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Fraser", "text": [ "I’m glad to have this opportunity to express my dissatisfaction with the government’s answer to the question I asked the other day.", "All of us know, if you watch prime-time sports on TV—the Grey Cup, the Leafs, the Raptors, basically anything—you are hit over the head with a taxpayer-funded ad from the Conservative government telling you just how rosy things here are in Ontario.", "1840", "The amount of money that the government is spending—of taxpayer dollars—on these ads is obscene: millions and millions and millions of dollars, all while people are just trying to get by. Last year, the government spent—for the first in this series of ads, alone—$8 million. And I am confident in saying that they’re spending at least twice as much as that right now.", "We’ve all seen them so much we can probably repeat them verbatim. The new ones start this way: “Have you heard? There’s a place where it’s all happening.” And then the government goes on to paint a picture to tell you their story and ignore yours, the story of Ontario families. The ad touts economic growth but leaves out the fact that we lost 28,000 construction jobs last year and 8,000 manufacturing jobs, that business confidence is at an all-time low here in Ontario and that housing starts are down 18%. Here are the other things it doesn’t tell you: 2.5 million Ontarians don’t have a family doctor; 11,000 died on a wait-list last year; and hallway health care is the worst it’s ever been.", "Why are they doing all of this advertising? It’s because the Premier wants to call an election early—an election for him and not for you. He’s spending the money for himself and not for Ontario families. Government advertising—it should help you; it should direct you. It should tell you about programs and how to access them, like telling you where you can find a family doctor or where to apply for a grant or help you find child care. Instead, the Premier wants to tell you his version of the story—and ignore yours—instead of helping you with your story and your reality. He doesn’t want to talk about the reality that most families are facing. It’s harder for everyone: pay the rent, pay the mortgage, put food on the table, buy your kids clothes, find a family doctor.", "Here’s what the Conservative campaign manager, Kory Teneycke, said on a recent podcast. I picked this up in the Trillium last Friday, and he spoke about the power of government-paid advertising and how Justin Trudeau should do it. This was his advice, and he’s quite proud of his advice. He said here, “Well, I don’t think you would see the Ontario PC Party where it is in the polls if it wasn’t out telling its own story in a positive way using government advertising, using government money, using hard-earned taxpayer dollars.”", "He also says in the same podcast—it’s quite revealing; I’m glad he’s being so open and honest about it—that the party in power should spend 10 times as much—10 times as much—in taxpayer dollars than it does of its own money on these ads. Government money is not the Premier’s money; it’s not our money. It has to be used for a public good. Telling your side of the story, painting a rosy picture while people are struggling, that’s just wrong.", "Here are a couple of questions: How much did the ads cost? I know it cost $4 million just to make the last ad, and you spent another $4 million producing it. How much did they cost? Who makes the ad? Who bought the ad? Who’s selling you the ad? Are they the same people who are doing your PC Party advertising? That’s a good question.", "And the last question I have is, how does the Premier of Ontario justify spending millions and millions of dollars on this self-congratulatory ad when almost 100,000 people in his own backyard, in Etobicoke, don’t have a family doctor?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (MmeLucille Collard)", "text": [ "I recognize the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Finance to respond." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Dave Smith", "text": [ "As I was listening to the member opposite, I thought back to a story I was told about Sir John A. Macdonald in 1863, when, giving a speech, he vomited, and what he said afterwards was, “I get sick sometimes not because of drink or any other cause, except that I am forced to listen to the ranting of my honourable opponent.”", "Really, when you think about that, it’s very fitting today, because what we’re doing is we’re using legislation that was written by the Liberals, passed when that member was a member of the government, and I find it rather ironic now that that member, who voted in favour of the legislation that says the government can do this, opposes the government telling the people of Ontario what has been done and what is positive. When we look at it, one of the things that we’re talking about in it, in all of the ads that we do—he’s correct—are the positive things that have happened in Ontario.", "Under the leadership of the former Liberal government, we saw 300,000 manufacturing jobs leave the province. That is not in dispute. That is a fact. And what we know is that last year, Ontario had more manufacturing jobs created than all 50 US states combined. We know that we, as a government, have received seven straight clean audit opinions from the Auditor General, something that the previous Liberal government cannot talk about because they didn’t receive clean audits from the Auditor General. In fact, there are a number of times where they missed dates and were not effective.", "We are proud of what we have done in Ontario, and we think that the people of Ontario are also proud of that. Because we know that we’ve invested $28 million in transit—transit that was not being invested in by the previous government. We know that we are building $70 billion worth of transit right now in Ontario. We know that the previous party, when they were in government, left municipalities underfunded and failed to support them for infrastructure needs. Things that we have been doing have made a positive difference on it. We know that because of policies that were put in place—the electrical policy, for example, forced GM to leave Oshawa because it was too expensive for that manufacturing plant to operate. What have we done? We’ve had an electric vehicle strategy that has brought General Motors back to Oshawa. It is a good-news story to talk about. It is something that we should be proud of.", "One of the things that the member opposite seems to forget is that everyone is listening to this, so when Honda is looking at a jurisdiction that they want to bring electric vehicles to and they see that Ontario is doing good things, they look to Ontario. That’s why we have an expansion in the Alliston area for Honda.", "We know that because of policies that the Liberals put in place, electricity rates rose from the lowest in North America in 2003 to the highest in North America in 2018—a 300% increase. We know the changes that we made on the electrical side have stopped those increases and made it so that we are competitive once again in it.", "All of those things have brought industry back to Ontario, so it is not inappropriate for us to stand up and say publicly that Ontario is open for business, that Ontario is doing the things they need to attract business back to Ontario. Because every single company out there is looking to Ontario to see what the leader in North America is doing.", "Our plan is working because you’re seeing that investment, over $48 billion in the electric vehicle market alone. It is not inappropriate for Ontario to be boasting to the rest of the world about what we’re doing." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (MmeLucille Collard)", "text": [ "There being no further matters to debate, pursuant to standing order 36(c), I deem the motion to adjourn to be carried.", "This House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, November 20.", "The House adjourned at 1850.", "", "", "" ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I beg to inform the House that during the adjournment the following document was tabled: a report entitled Ontario Economic Monitor: April to September 2024, from the Office of the Financial Accountability Officer of Ontario." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Matthew Rae", "text": [ "It’s my honour to rise today to recognize an exceptional citizen from Arthur, Ontario, in my riding of Perth–Wellington. Laird More was recently named citizen of the year by the Arthur Chamber of Commerce. For almost 50 years, Laird has been a cornerstone of Arthur’s community through his tireless volunteerism and leadership. A dedicated member of the Arthur Lions Club since 1976, he has been involved in every aspect of the club. He has served in numerous executive roles, directed the annual craft show and contributed countless hours to the community food booth.", "This past Saturday, Laird also received the prestigious Melvin Jones Fellowship award, the highest honour a Lions member can receive.", "Laird’s passion for mentorship and faith shines through the Arthur SU Sports Camp, a Christian-based program he founded in 2000.", "Laird credits his late wife, Catherine, as the inspiration behind his work. Her unwavering support and empathy shaped Laird’s community efforts. As Laird said, nothing he has accomplished was done alone, reflecting the collaborative spirit that makes Arthur a special place to live. In short, Laird’s dedication to the community is unwavering.", "Congratulations to Laird on a well-deserved honour. Thank you for everything you do." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Peggy Sattler", "text": [ "Last week, I visited the Old South site of the Thames Valley Family Health Team. I want to express my huge thanks to the skilled and dedicated health care professionals who work there.", "The Thames Valley Family Health Team is one of the largest in Ontario, with funding for 80 front-line clinicians from a range of disciplines. They work with 125 affiliated family physicians to provide team-based care to patients who benefit from better screening and prevention, shorter wait times and improved chronic disease management. This, of course, saves the health care system money because it reduces hospital admissions and emergency room visits.", "Unfortunately, however, the Thames Valley Family Health Team faces staffing and recruitment challenges that limit its ability to support patients: 12 of its 80 front-line positions are currently vacant, including an OT posting that has been up for 18 months. Clinicians are leaving to take jobs in the hospital sector, where wages are as much as 25% higher than the wages the team is funded for.", "This government’s failure to close the wage gap between community and hospital health care workers means that new family health teams will struggle to attract and retain staff, just like the existing teams. New family doctors will shift to other practice areas when they can’t find teams to affiliate with, and the 2.5 million Ontarians without primary care will remain unattached.", "Fixing primary care means investing in community health care workers.", "1020" ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Brian Riddell", "text": [ "Good morning, Mr. Speaker. Over the past few weeks, I had the privilege of attending several Remembrance Day ceremonies in my riding. I was deeply moved by the respect and appreciation shown by our community for the freedoms we enjoy in Canada.", "At the Galt cenotaph, the ceremony was beautifully organized with thoughtful speeches, stirring music and a respectful crowd. It was a powerful reflection of our collective spirit of remembrance.", "I also attended the North Dumfries ceremony in Ayr. Though smaller, it was equally meaningful. It’s a reminder that no matter the size of the gathering, our commitment to remembering those who have served is what really matters most.", "In addition, I was grateful to attend a delicious dinner hosted by Preston Legion Branch 126, where I heard heartfelt remarks from local residents and had some great food.", "As I marched in both the Ayr and Galt parades, I was honoured to be surrounded by those whose have served and continue to serve our country.", "Mr. Speaker, Remembrance Day is a solemn reminder that the peace and prosperity we enjoy have come at a great cost. We must never forget the sacrifices made by those who gave all in the defence of our country." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Tom Rakocevic", "text": [ "On March 19 of this year, over 100 Orthodox Christians joined us here in the galleries, while many more watched from afar. They were here in hopeful support of my bill to recognize an annual Orthodox Christian Week in Ontario, and they were not disappointed. Members across this House praised Orthodox Christians and recognized their contributions both here in Ontario and across the world. They acknowledged the importance of faith in the lives of those who practise it and they shone a light on the persecution some Orthodox Christian communities face in other parts of world for simply doing so. They heard from Orthodox Christian parliamentarians here who spoke personally of what the faith means to them and their families.", "When the bill passed second reading, the galleries erupted in applause and messages from across the province poured in thanking all of us here. Orthodox Christians continue to reach out. For instance, I heard from Orthodox Christians in Peel region who are disappointed that Christmas on January 7 had been recently downgraded on their public school board’s day-of-significance calendar, impacting students and their families. Some said, “If our faith was better recognized here, things like that wouldn’t happen,” and asked hopefully when Orthodox Christian Week in Ontario would become a reality.", "Speaker, on behalf of Orthodox Christians across Ontario, I once again thank the members of this House for supporting Orthodox Christian Week at second reading. The future of Orthodox Christian Week in Ontario is in the hands of this government. We eagerly await third reading of this bill so that it can be passed into law and give the Orthodox Christians within our great province the recognition they deserve.", "We are hopeful and we have faith that you will support us once more." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Stéphane Sarrazin", "text": [ "I rise today to highlight the incredible work of the Movember Foundation and the ongoing need to address critical health issues facing men across Canada.", "Movember is dedicated to improving the lives of men by focusing on three key areas: mental health, suicide prevention and prostate and testicular cancer. Through year-round funding for services, research and health literacy campaigns, Movember works tirelessly to raise awareness and make a difference in these areas.", "The statistics surrounding men’s health are both alarming and urgent. In Canada, one in eight men will develop prostate cancer, which is expected to take the lives of 5,000 men this year alone. Tragically, three out of four suicides are men, resulting in the loss of 3,000 lives every year. Furthermore, men account for three out of four opioid overdose deaths, which claims an additional 5,500 lives annually.", "These numbers are a stark reminder of the need for more support, awareness and resources for men’s health. That is why I call on all of us—whether as individuals or communities—to support Movember programs and initiatives, whether through donations or by simply starting those crucial conversations about health and mental well-being with the men in our lives.", "Having meaningful discussions about mental health and physical health challenges can make a world of difference. I encourage everyone to reach out to their friends, families and colleagues, and ask this simple but vital question: How are you really doing?", "Together, we can save lives, prevent suffering and make a lasting difference in the lives of men everywhere." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Sandy Shaw", "text": [ "Hamilton area hospitals are projecting deficits of more than $136 million. St. Joe’s Healthcare is projecting a deficit of $24.5 million while Hamilton Health Sciences, which serves 2.5 million people in the region, is looking at a shortfall of $112 million. These are enormous and unprecedented deficits that are the direct result of your government’s continued underfunding and privatization of health care.", "This is not just happening in Hamilton but across Ontario, and experts fear lives are at risk. The Ontario Nurses’ Association said, “This is yet another example of a broader problem: the continuous underfunding of public health care by the provincial government.... They are taking a wrecking ball to our health care system by not providing funding to address deficits,” said Jillian Watt, president of CUPE 7800.", "So my question to this government: How do you expect hospitals to solve this crisis? Are they going to have to lay off badly needed nurses, PSWs and other staff? Hospitals are already short-staffed, and the staff they have is overworked and tired of knowing they cannot meet their patients’ needs no matter how hard they try. Will they be forced to cut programs like Hamilton Health Sciences recent cancellation of 20 cancer studies that are lifelines for cancer patients who have run out of other options? Our Ontario public hospitals should not have to make up your government’s funding shortfalls on the backs of staff and patients.", "My question: Why are you continuing to sit on your hands when our hospitals, our staff and our patients are struggling?" ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Brian Saunderson", "text": [ "Remembrance Day is a solemn day to honour and remember our veterans who served our country in perilous times to preserve our freedoms and our democratic system. They fought so we in this House can represent the hard-working people of this great province.", "Remembrance Day is a busy day in my riding of Simcoe–Grey. We have 12 Legions that serve our veterans and preserve and honour their legacy in communities big and small—communities like Alliston, Angus, Beaver Valley, Beeton, Collingwood, Creemore, Everett, Lisle, New Lowell, Stayner, Tottenham and Wasaga Beach.", "Speaker, I want to acknowledge the vital role that our Legions play in these communities and the incredible work of their presidents, executives, board members, ladies’ auxiliary and committee members—all of whom selflessly volunteer their time and energy. Our Legions serve as community hubs, hosting wakes, weddings, christenings, community events, sporting banquets and even political debates. I’m pleased to say the Legions in Simcoe–Grey have been receiving Ontario Trillium Foundation grants to modernize their facilities and enhance their cenotaphs. Over the last 12 months, I have attended OTF announcements at Legions in Everett, Beaver Valley, Creemore and Alliston.", "In closing, I want to recognize the hard work of the two zone commanders that serve the Legions in Simcoe–Grey, Chuck Arrand and Shawn McKinlay, and to specifically recognize and thank Collingwood Legion president Rob Graham who for 19 years has so capably led Branch 63 and is stepping down this spring. Thank you to all, Speaker." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Aislinn Clancy", "text": [ "Three weeks ago, I had the pleasure to visit Erin and her team at Nutrition for Learning. I reached out because many teachers were calling me in tears to say that the demand for school snacks has grown so much that, despite their best efforts, more and more kids were going hungry in our schools—an explosion of kids in Ontario going hungry in our schools. When kids are hungry at school, they act out more and they learn less.", "They shared some staggering statistics that day. They let me know that 50% of kids in Ontario rely on school snack programs. They said that their demand alone had grown by 400% and they described it as an “absolutely out-of-control need.” And they reported that despite this growth in food insecurity, funding has not meaningfully increased since 2015. I think all of us here want the parents of Ontario to be able to feed their kids.", "But I’m grateful for the folks in Waterloo region like Nutrition for Learning, Food4Kids, the Food Bank of Waterloo Region and their many partners like House of Friendship and caring education workers who are doing all they can to feed every hungry child.", "I join Nutrition for Learning’s call for an increase to nutrition funding to make sure that all kids in Ontario schools can eat so they canlearn and thrive.", "1030", "Thank you to Erin and her fabulous team for their passion, dedication and determination to end childhood hunger in Ontario." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Ric Bresee", "text": [ "I’m pleased to rise on behalf of my riding of Hastings–Lennox and Addington.", "Speaker, as has already been spoken of in the House today, last week we recognized Remembrance Day, a day of reflection on the terrible darkness of war and our promise to never forget.", "Today, I’d like to turn towards and speak about a light of hope in my riding: the Canadian Peace Museum. There are peace museums all over the world, but we’ve never had one here in Canada. Chris Houston, the co-founder of the Canadian Peace Museum, has worked in humanitarian emergencies across three continents and feels the urgency of promoting peace in an increasingly conflicted world. He and his co-founders and the board began their fundraising efforts to build a peace museum here in Canada, and they have chosen the beautiful town of Bancroft right in my riding. They’ve been diligent and forward-thinking in their planning, and they look to break ground on the museum in 2025.", "The Canadian Peace Museum aims to promote peace, using their exhibits to showcase the links between peace and conflict and to spark conversations on what we here in Canada and throughout the world have done right and what we can and must do better.", "Speaker, I’m humbled and gratified that the founders of this important cultural asset have chosen the town of Bancroft in my riding of Hastings–Lennox and Addington as the place to build the very important Canadian Peace Museum." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Clark", "text": [ "It was a busy constituency week, beginning with five Remembrance Day ceremonies.", "With the Solicitor General, we announced $21.8 million to expand the water treatment plant in North Grenville. We also visited a police department in Brockville and the Brockville fire service to thank them for keeping our community safe.", "In Gananoque, I saw an amazing project where Horizon Legacy is pioneering the use of robotics in home construction to build affordable housing faster and at less cost.", "I also joined my member of Parliament, Michael Barrett, to recognize two outstanding young boys, seven-year-old Jack Burns and his four-year-old brother, Hudson. They raised $300 for our local food bank with a lemonade stand last summer.", "I also want to highlight the nine hard-working entrepreneurs I met at the Starter Company Plus launch. I was so impressed to speak with them and to learn about their skills, determination and courage, putting together these small businesses. I’m so proud that our government and the Associate Minister of Small Business are supporting this program with a $13-million investment over two years. It ensures that the great team at Leeds Grenville Small Business can provide entrepreneurs with very important training and mentorship.", "Speaker, a little advertising never hurts. I want to talk about those nine businesses: Unique Auto Accents; Robinson Psychotherapy; CC Weddings and Events; Setanta Solutions Inc.; 1000 Islands Cyclery; DG Landscaping; Esthetics by Paige; The Crafty Potter; and Oomen’s Fishing Tackle." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "We have with us in the Speaker’s gallery today the High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus to Canada, His Excellency Stavros Hatziyiannis. Please join me in warmly welcoming our guest to the Legislative Assembly today.", "Also with us in the gallery today is Canadian Armed Forces retired Master Corporal Sean Renaud. He completed three tours of duty in Afghanistan and was deployed multiple times to Iraq.", "Thank you for your service and welcome to Queen’s Park." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Yakabuski", "text": [ "Speaker, I beg your indulgence; I’m not welcoming a visitor—but recognition, if I may. Today our granddaughter May Mundt is celebrating her 17th birthday, and on Saturday, our granddaughter Adelaide Colucci celebrated her 11th.", "Happy birthday." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Peggy Sattler", "text": [ "I’m delighted to welcome London West constituent Suzanne Pountney, who is the board chair of the IBAO, who is here in the building today, as well as a constituent of London West.", "I also want to welcome Jaimie Mulder, Scott Sleightholm and Chuck Ellison, who met with me this morning.", "Finally, I want to recognize my friend and a neighbour of London West, the warden of Oxford county, mayor of Zorra, Marcus Ryan.", "Welcome to Queen’s Park." ] }, { "speaker": "MmeDawn Gallagher Murphy", "text": [ "It’s a pleasure to introduce Dr. David Jacobs, president of the Ontario Association of Radiologists, who joins us here today. Dr. Jacobs will be retiring from his role as president. We are incredibly grateful for his years of dedicated service as well as his leadership with the OAR, which has been impactful work, as radiologists have been instrumental in saving lives and providing essential care to patients across this province.", "Additionally, I’d like to introduce Dr. Mark Baerlocher, who will be taking on the role as president of the OAR. We look forward to working with him in his new capacity, and we’re excited to see how his expertise and vision will continue to advance radiology in Ontario.", "Welcome to Queen’s Park." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Bhutila Karpoche", "text": [ "I would like to give a very warm welcome to our page Ekam Dosanjh’s family: mom, Margaret Dosanjh; dad, Sath Dosanjh; sister, Carys Dosanjh; and grandparents, Barbara and Richard Evans. Welcome to Queen’s Park." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "It’s my pleasure to welcome Charlotte Chummar who attends St. Evan Catholic Elementary School in the great riding of Dufferin-Peel and is serving as a page in this legislative session. Welcome, Charlotte." ] }, { "speaker": "MmeFrance Gélinas", "text": [ "I’m pleased to present representatives from the Canadian Parents for French, Ontario division. We have Myron Karpiuk, Mary Cruden, Betty Gormley and Ahdithya Visweswaran. Welcome to Queen’s Park." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon", "text": [ "Good morning, everyone. I’d like to extend a warm welcome to active transportation and environmental advocates. Thank you for crusading for safe roads for everyone. Welcome to your House." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Sheref Sabawy", "text": [ "This week marks the anniversary of the war in Ukraine—1,000 days after the illegal occupation in 2022. Here in the gallery for this day are the Consul General of Ukraine, Oleh Nikolenko; the vice-president of Ontario’s Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Bohdan Wynnyckyj; and his wife, Myroslava Nahirnyj." ] }, { "speaker": "MPP Lise Vaugeois", "text": [ "I would like to welcome members of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance: Dreyden George, Alma Mater Society at Queen’s University; Kathleena Henricus, University Students’ Council at Western University; Marcus Nieva, Trent Durham Student Association; and Polina Vaynshtok, Students’ General Association of Laurentian University.", "I look forward to meeting with you later. Welcome to your House." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Aris Babikian", "text": [ "Good morning. Yesterday evening, the Cypriot community and the Cypriot federation organized a very nice reception to welcome the High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus, His Excellency Stavros Hatziyiannis. Today, His Excellency is with us.", "Welcome, Your Excellency, to our House of democracy in Ontario.", "1040", "Also, I would like to recognize Linda Li, who is sitting there. She is the mother of our page Andrew Yang Muhlbacher." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Unless there’s an objection, I’d like to continue with introduction of visitors." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Bhutila Karpoche", "text": [ "Speaker, I want to take an opportunity to say thank you to Carly Jones. After 16 years, first with my predecessor MPP Cheri DiNovo and then with me, she is moving on to the Ontario public service.", "Carly, you’ve been such an important part of our team. I want to say thank you. We will miss you dearly, and we’re so excited for your next chapter." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Aislinn Clancy", "text": [ "I’d like to welcome the team from Environmental Defence. They came here today to defend against the climate disaster that is the 413 that locks us into—affecting our health and well-being. Climate change is real, it’s getting worse, and thank you for keeping us safe from climate chaos." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "When we do introduction of visitors, we’re not going to continue with political statements associated with the introduction.", "Minister of Finance." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy", "text": [ "I want to introduce the great mayor of Pickering and his wonderful wife, Kevin Ashe and Karen O’Brien, right up there.", "Applause." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy", "text": [ "Yes, let’s hear it for that great mayor of Pickering.", "Mr. Speaker, if I may, there are two more up there: Councillor Mara Nagy is there and also Teresa DeBoer. Welcome to your House." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Hardeep Singh Grewal", "text": [ "I want to introduce former member of Parliament Bal Gosal. He was also Canada’s Minister of Sport. Welcome to Queen’s Park." ] }, { "speaker": "Mrs. Daisy Wai", "text": [ "Everybody loves Raymond. I’m happy to announce that our minister, Minister Cho—it is his 88th birthday today.", "Happy birthday, Minister." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Happy birthday.", "Introduction of visitors?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "I’d like to welcome to the House some folks on the municipal side who joined me this morning in a press conference: former Ottawa city councillor Catherine McKenney; mayor of Zorra township, Marcus Ryan; and Pickering councillor Mara Nagy. Thanks for coming. Welcome to your House." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Jill Dunlop", "text": [ "Good morning, Speaker. To kick off the beginning of anti-bullying and prevention week, I would like to welcome Tom Fulga from Kids Help Phone.", "Thank you for the work you do to support our students. Welcome to Queen’s Park." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Dave Smith", "text": [ "I’d like to introduce the members of the Métis Nation of Ontario who are here with us today: Joanne Meyer, Amy Mersereau, Cindi Rye, Matt Robertson, Brian Black, Jennifer St. Germain, Steve Callaghan, Sharon Cadeau, Kathleen Anderson, Mitch Case, Theresa Stenlund and, of course, my good friend Margaret Froh." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "Good morning, Speaker. This question is for the Premier. After six years of this government, the state of our health care has only gotten worse in the province of Ontario. Just ask the people of Huron-Perth, folks in towns like Stratford and Seaforth and Clinton, who have faced ongoing emergency room closures and reduced hours. Imagine showing up after an accident only to see a closed sign at your local emergency room. That is the norm in rural Ontario.", "And now we’ve learned that the hospital group in Huron-Perth are going to have to make even deeper cuts. They face a $3.3-million deficit.", "So, Speaker, how many people facing medical emergencies in small and rural communities have to go without care before this government changes course?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "To reply, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "I’m very proud of our government’s record supporting our hospital partners, making sure that they have the necessary funds to ensure ongoing operations. In fact, through commitments from the Ministry of Finance and our government, we’ve seen 4% year-over-year budget increases for the hospital budgets.", "We’ve always known that our hospitals are our core and our base to ensure that we have great continuing care in our communities. We’ll continue to make those investments because we know, whether it is hiring and training new physicians, whether it is expanding access to critical MRI and CT scanners, whether it is in fact 50 new capital expansions, our government has always been there to support hospitals and community care in Ontario." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "Speaker, this is not a record to be proud of. And it is not just rural hospitals. Hospitals in cities are facing the same pressures because of this government’s underfunding.", "Hamilton hospitals are now predicting a more than $136-million deficit this fiscal year. They’re going to be looking at staffing cuts at a time when emergency rooms are already overcrowded and hallway health care in Ontario is worse than ever before.", "Making sure that people can get the care they need when they need it is a basic function of any provincial government and it is the right of every single Canadian. So will the Premier explain to the people of Hamilton why he cannot deliver that for them?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will please take their seats.", "The Minister of Health may reply." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "It must be NDP math today. A 4% increase year over year for hospital operating budgets; an $85-million increase in hospital capital and expansions—we’re making the investments to not only make sure that we have primary care physicians who are training in the province of Ontario when, respectfully, the last time the NDP government were in power, they were actually cutting residency and hospital positions.", "I will take no lessons from the member opposite on how to better protect and serve and prepare for an aging population and a growing population in Ontario. Whether it is new seats for nurses, for nurse practitioners, for PSWs, for physicians, we are getting the job done because we know we need to ensure our hospitals, our community care, our long-term-care facilities have those critical health human resources available to them as we continue to expand the system." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The final supplementary?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "I’ll tell you what, Speaker. I’ll give her some Tory math, shall I? Some Conservative math: A thousand emergency room closures last year—a thousand.", "The minister’s words do not match the reality of the people of Ontario. Health care in Ontario is worse than it has ever been under this government. In small towns, in big cities, getting the care that you need, even in an emergency, is no longer a given. That is life after six years of this Conservative government.", "Every single contract for private surgery that this government gives out means less funding for our local hospitals. So why is this government underfunding our hospitals in favour of private surgical clinics that are going to always put profit ahead of patients?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will please take their seats.", "The Minister of Health." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "Let’s get some numbers on the record, shall we? In July and August, there was a 99% open rate of our emergency departments. We have seen an 85% overall improvement. Why have we seen that? Because our government has made investments with health care professionals, with hospitals. We have Ontario Health working directly if there is a hospital that is needing additional coverage to cover their emergency department.", "But, Speaker, the member opposite talks about Hamilton. I don’t just rip and read from the headline; I actually make calls, so I had a conversation with the Hamilton Health Sciences CEO this morning. In fact, there are no layoffs happening at Juravinski; it is quite the opposite. They want to expand the number of clinical trials by 20. Therefore, they are doing recruitment right now, today, for health human resources.", "That’s how we get things done.", "1050" ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "This question is back to the Premier again.", "Let’s talk numbers. The Financial Accountability Office report came out last week, and it confirmed what we have been saying on this side of the House: Housing is not a priority for this government. It has never been more clear. Housing starts—down. Expert advice—ignored. Six years—wasted. The last time housing starts were this bad was 70 years ago, Speaker—70 years ago. That’s this government’s record.", "But when we put forward a plan to build real homes, this government shut it down. They don’t have solutions, and they don’t want solutions.", "So, back to the Premier: If you won’t roll up your sleeves, put shovels in the ground and build some homes, will you at least move out of the way to let those of us with a real plan get the job done?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will please take their seats. Order.", "The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Paul Calandra", "text": [ "Mr. Speaker, as I’ve said on a number of occasions, we’re going to continue to make sure that we remove obstacles so that we get more homes built across the province of Ontario.", "I’m very happy about the fact that we are seeing more purpose-built rentals across the province of Ontario than we have ever seen before.", "To be very clear, the Leader of the Opposition’s plan calls for the spending of $150 billion to build a small amount of homes across the province of Ontario. The only party that has a worse plan would be, of course—the federal Liberal plan. They spent $1.2 billion to build 2,000 homes in the province of Ontario.", "We know this: When socialists take over the building of housing, we’ve got a real big problem.", "Instead, we’re going to double down, we’re going to remove the obstacles, and we are going to build 1.5 million homes for the next generations of Ontarians—despite the obstacles that they put in the way constantly." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "There you go, Speaker. This is a government that is just ideologically opposed to building affordable housing. Right there, you heard it.", "I’ll tell you something else that the FAO report showed us. It said we are falling farther and farther behind the target that everybody agrees on—1.5 million homes we need. We are falling farther and farther behind, at a rate of 3,700 fewer units every single month. That is shameful. To catch up, my goodness, we’d have to increase housing starts by 74%. This government has no plan to make that happen.", "Look at what BC is doing. They are building at twice the rate of Ontario. So I ask this government again, why is this government doubling down on their failures instead of following a plan with a record of success?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will take their seats.", "The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Paul Calandra", "text": [ "The Leader of the Opposition is absolutely correct; I am ideologically opposed to the government building homes when I know that the private sector can do it better. That is the only plan that the Leader of the Opposition has. That’s the only plan that they have. They want to double down and re-create the failures of the Bob Rae government. We know what happened then. A million people were on social assistance when the Bob Rae government, the NDP government, had the opportunity to govern the province—a million people.", "Contrast that to where we are today. Mr. Speaker, 800,000 people have the dignity of a job, who didn’t before we came to office. We have seen massive population growth across the province of Ontario. Do you know why? Because people want to come to this province to experience the economic revival that has happened since we’ve been in office. Before the higher interest rates, we were building homes at a higher pace than ever. We have brought in housing action plans to ensure that we can continue that.", "Let me be very clear: Every time the socialist opposition brings forward a plan that would see the government take over the construction of homes, I’ll vote against it.", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The House will come to order.", "The final supplementary?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "The only thing that this Premier and this government have achieved in six long years is encampments in every single community in this province. People are unable to find homes here because this government has failed. They refused to bring back real rent control. They slashed protections for renters in every corner of this province. Housing is now the most expensive item on the household budgets of so many people in this province, and yet this government refuses to address it.", "They continue on this plan to create no housing. No housing is being built in this in this province right now, and this government is so ideologically opposed to actually getting anything done that this is the best we can expect. Well, Speaker, I’ve got to tell you, the people of this province deserve a lot better than this.", "I want to ask the Premier, will he finally do the right thing? Will he bring back real rent control and stop the greed that is driving up the cost of housing all across this province?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will please take their seats.", "The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Paul Calandra", "text": [ "I’ll tell you what, Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition has absolutely no idea what she is talking about. In fact, today, the mayor of Pickering is here. The city of Pickering, of course, is blowing through their housing targets. Do you know why? Because he’s removing obstacles so that shovels can get in the ground.", "I was in Barrie on Friday, and do you know what was happening in Barrie? They were building another 1,200 units of affordable purpose-built rentals. You know why? Because the mayor of Barrie removed obstacles so that shovels could get in the ground.", "You know what, Mr. Speaker? Where mayors have done what we have asked them to do—remove obstacles, cut red tape, make it more affordable to get shovels in the ground—those mayors are meeting their targets. But when builders and home builders are faced with socialist mayors who want to stop people from getting their homes, they run into obstacles. That’s where the people of Ontario have said to us, “Double down. Remove obstacles. Let people get that dream of home ownership.” We won’t let them down.", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Can you stop the clock? Just a minute.", "The vast majority of members are listening to the member who has the floor, and we are engaged in question period. Others are flouting the rules of the House and yelling across the floor. I am going to start calling you to order individually now if you persist, and then, if necessary, we’ll go to warnings.", "Start the clock. The next question." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Catherine Fife", "text": [ "My question is for the Premier. Last week, the Financial Accountability Officer released a scathing report on Ontario’s economy and housing situation. The report found that Ontario’s unemployment rate rose for the sixth consecutive quarter, reaching 6.9% in 2023 Q3. This is the highest since mid-2021.", "This weak pace of homebuilding has contributed to job losses in the construction sector. Ontario deserves a strong, confident construction sector that meets the housing crisis moment.", "Surely, we can agree in this House that people living in tents in the province of Ontario in the winter is unacceptable. When will this government take the housing crisis seriously?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will please take their seats.", "Once again, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Paul Calandra", "text": [ "In the member’s own riding, of course, we increased supports for homelessness by over 28%. Of course, the member will remember this because she voted against that increase in funding. But let me also be very clear: We have increased funding for the Homelessness Prevention Program to the highest level in history. Over $1.2 billion will be spent on supporting those programs.", "But let me just say this: I expect—we expect—results from that investment, and if we don’t start to see the results that we are promised by the investments, we will take further action, because people demand safe streets. The people who are suffering from addiction within these encampments need more help, so we will make sure that we give them the resources and the wraparound services that are required. If we don’t start seeing those results, we will do all that we can and all that we must to give people safer streets and give people the help that they need so they can get out of tents and into homes." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Catherine Fife", "text": [ "No government in the history of this province has spent so much money getting so little done on housing. Ontario is actually on track for the lowest level of annual housing starts on record since 1955. Our Homes Ontario plan is part of the solution. People need homes and construction workers need jobs. The Homes Ontario plan is a plan that is committed to building and overseeing the construction of 250,000 affordable and non-market homes. Strong partnerships with the not-for-profit sector is a key part of our plan. We’ll build homes for people, not for profit.", "1100", "Your plan is not working. You are part of the problem. You are failing the people of this province. If the private sector won’t build truly attainable affordable homes, when will you? When will you actually come to the table and get something done so that people don’t have to live in tents in the province of Ontario?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Stop the clock. The member for Ottawa Centre will come to order. The member for Hamilton Mountain will come to order. The government House leader will come to order. The Associate Minister of Auto Theft and Bail Reform will come to order.", "Start the clock. To reply, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Paul Calandra", "text": [ "Look, Speaker, the reality is this: We had said right from the beginning that if interest rates were to increase at the speed at which they did, we would see significant challenges in the housing market across the province of Ontario. That is why, of course, the Premier stepped up to the mike. He was one of the first provincial leaders to say that the policies of the federal government, which were leading to high inflation and high interest rates—the fastest increase in interest rates in the history of this country—needed to come down. That is why the Premier did that.", "We are doubling down and ensuring that we remove red tape and remove obstacles so that we can get more homes built. Nobody wants to see the NDP spend $150 billion to build so few homes. Nobody wants the government building homes, because wherever that has been tried, it doesn’t work.", "I know the Leader of the Opposition herself, when she was asked, “How much would it cost?” couldn’t even come up with the answer. We had to fill in the blanks for her. That’s the NDP: blanks.", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Stop the clock. The member for Waterloo will come to order. The member for Scarborough Centre will come to order.", "Start the clock. The next question." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Sheref Sabawy", "text": [ "My question is for the Minister of Transportation. People in my riding of Mississauga–Erin Mills have grown increasingly frustrated with congestion and gridlock on our highways. For far too long, the previous Liberal government ignored these issues and left our communities with no solutions.", "As Ontario’s population continues to grow, we know that we cannot continue with the status quo. Our government must implement measures that make it easier and faster to build new roads and highways across our province. We need to take action now so that people can spend more time with their families and less under gridlock.", "Speaker, can the minister please tell the House how our government is finally delivering the meaningful improvements Ontarians have been waiting for?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The parliamentary assistant and the member for Hastings–Lennox and Addington." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Ric Bresee", "text": [ "Thank you for the question to the member from Mississauga–Erin Mills. It’s no secret that under the previous Liberal government, critical infrastructure projects simply didn’t get built. They sat by as our population grew. They left our highways stuck in gridlock.", "We know that gridlock is hurting our economy and taking away time from our families. That’s why our government has a plan to keep our province moving. With the Building Highways Faster Act, our government is cutting through the legacy of inaction, removing unnecessary barriers and getting essential projects moving along. This legislation allows us to fast-track vital highway expansions like the 413, finally providing relief for communities and addressing congestion head-on.", "We are committed to real action, putting shovels in the ground and getting Ontario moving faster." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Sheref Sabawy", "text": [ "I know that families and small businesses in my community are relieved to see common-sense solutions that will help to keep our province moving.", "Speaker, the Bonnie Crombie Liberals do not want to see major infrastructure projects like Highway 413 built in Ontario. Instead, they are offering zero solutions to help get drivers out of gridlock.", "In contrast, our government understands that without new infrastructure, gridlock will only get worse. That’s why it is critical that we streamline the building process so that we can have a strong transportation network now and into the future.", "Speaker, can the minister please explain how the Building Highways Faster Act ensures our highway infrastructure meets the demands of our growing population?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Ric Bresee", "text": [ "Once again, thank you to the fantastic member from Mississauga–Erin Mills.", "Our government is laser-focused on getting Ontario moving and making life easier for the hard-working families all across this province. It’s actually quite disappointing to see the NDP and the Liberals try to stand in the way of critical projects like the 413 without offering any practical solutions. Their opposition means more traffic, more gridlock and a real hit to Ontario’s potential for growth, all at the expense of everyday Ontarians.", "Our Building Highways Faster Act is about taking action. It’s about cutting through red tape that has held Ontario back for too long. We’re streamlining approvals and fast-tracking infrastructure. We’re putting shovels in the ground faster, creating jobs, reducing commute times and making sure that Ontario remains a place where people and businesses can thrive. With this legislation, we’re standing up for Ontarians—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Thank you very much.", "The next question." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Terence Kernaghan", "text": [ "My question is to the Premier. Conservatives have really shown their hand. The chair of the Ontario PC Party fund emailed ministers’ offices, dictating minimum fundraising targets and directing them to organize two to five fundraisers each by the end of the year.", "Everyone remembers the Liberal-era cash-for-access regime, when in 2016, their party set fundraising quotas for ministers. Conservatives had a lot to say about that at that time.", "My question is going to be the exact same question that Conservatives asked the former Liberal government: “Does the Premier acknowledge that setting fundraising targets for cabinet ministers forces them to fundraise from stakeholders with active files within their respective ministries?”" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "To reply, the Attorney General." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Doug Downey", "text": [ "I’ll begin with very clear—we do not have targets, we have not been given targets and we are not following targets, Mr. Speaker. But let me tell you this: I actually learned about the alleged email through the newspaper—that’s how tight it was—because it was a mistake when it was sent out—it was recalled immediately—apparently, to some individuals. Now, this is not comparable to the Liberal scandal that put these guys in this corner to think about what they’ve done for some time.", "Now, according to the website, it says we need some help. All you have to do is google the Liberal scandals; Wikipedia has a whole page on Patti Starr. The headlines are “Ontario’s Cash-For-Access Scandal and Big Pharma”—I’ll get to the NDP in my supplementary—", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Order.", "Supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Terence Kernaghan", "text": [ "Oh, Speaker, another day for this government and another FOI. These Conservatives are always contrite when they’re caught, but they’re not contrite when they’re in the backrooms or communicating via back channels.", "Let’s be clear: Conservatives were righteously outraged when the Liberal government did it, but now they’re drawing from the same playbook that got the Liberals reduced to non-party status in 2018. Liberal, Tory, same old story.", "I want to ask the same question to the Premier that the Conservatives asked the Liberals during their cash-for-access scandal. Again, I quote: Do they “believe that it is appropriate for a minister of the crown to raise large sums of money from stakeholders bidding on projects that are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, where he has the power to give a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down?”", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will please take their seats.", "The Attorney General." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Doug Downey", "text": [ "Everybody knows the Premier gives his phone number out to every Ontarian. Nobody could be more accessible. I bet he gets more phone calls and texts than the entire NDP combined.", "Let me be clear: When the NDP have recently advertised for a fundraising director, what they’ve asked for is somebody with experience in networks, in labour, in other progressive organizations, either on staff or as a volunteer. Now, let me be clear: I know they probably know that you can’t raise money from labour; it has to be from individuals. But even if you could access those networks, they’re going to be surprised when they find out that LIUNA, IBEW, the operating engineers of Ontario are all supporting the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.", "1110" ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Lorne Coe", "text": [ "My question is for the Minister of Mines. Ontario is known for its rich natural resources. From our northern forests to the mineral-rich lands, our province has always been a leader in resource development. Mining has been the backbone of many communities, providing jobs and driving economic growth.", "Now, as the world shifts towards green technologies, critical minerals are more important than ever. These minerals are used in everything from electric cars to advanced batteries. The global demand is skyrocketing, and Ontario is perfectly positioned to meet it. Our government needs to continue to show leadership in not only supporting the mining sector, but also helping Ontario compete on the world stage.", "Can the minister please share how the Critical Minerals Strategy, including programs like the Ontario Junior Exploration Program, is creating economic opportunities for our great province?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. George Pirie", "text": [ "Thank you for the question from our member from Whitby. We have rare earths 20 miles west of Otter Rapids. We have cesium west of Lake Abitibi. We have phosphates east of Hearst. We have graphite west of Hearst. We have lithium deposits throughout northwestern Ontario. And we have abundant critical minerals in the Ring of Fire.", "But it all starts with exploration. That’s why, last week, it was my pleasure to announce the fifth round of the Ontario Junior Exploration Program that has contributed $35 million in investments in the early-stage exploration projects, like the $13-million investment last week in Timmins. Ontario announced and funded 84 projects, and 62 projects that were focused entirely on critical minerals. That’s why, right now, in Ontario, we are the number one jurisdiction for exploration." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Lorne Coe", "text": [ "Thank you, Minister, for your leadership. Ontario has always been a leader in mining. From gold to nickel, our natural resources have helped fuel economies here at home and around the world. But today, the game is changing. Critical minerals are the future. They’re key to green technologies, batteries and advanced manufacturing. The demand is growing fast, and Ontario has what the world needs.", "But to stay competitive, we must act quickly. New mines can’t wait decades to open. We need a strong plan to get these minerals out of the ground and into the hands of the industries that need them.", "Can the minister please explain how our government’s Critical Minerals Strategy and recent legislative changes are speeding up the opening of new mines while keeping environmental protections in place?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. George Pirie", "text": [ "The member from Whitby is entirely correct: It is critical that we get these minerals out of the ground. We have what the world needs now in northern Ontario as we wean ourselves off of fossil fuels and we get into the electric vehicle revolution. We also need these minerals as well to ensure national security. We have the minerals. We have the mines. We have the ability to ensure our future.", "It is critical that we continue to develop the advances that we’re doing in legislation and regulations to ensure that we get these minerals out of the ground. It’s important as we wean ourselves off fossil fuels and secure our national security." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "MPP Lise Vaugeois", "text": [ "My question is to the Premier. Ginoogaming First Nation is in a state of emergency. The bridge that is the main access into their community can no longer be used for vehicles. It’s been known sine 2002 that the bridge was not safe. Ontario did its own study in 2017 that came to the same conclusion, yet no action was taken.", "The Premier and the Minister of Indigenous Affairs did a photo op just outside Ginoogaming last Wednesday. Why did the Premier and minister not reach out to Chief Taylor and visit the community knowing it’s in a state of emergency?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "To reply, the government House leader." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Clark", "text": [ "I want to thank the honourable member for the question. On behalf of the minister and the Premier, the safety and well-being of that community when they’re in an emergency is of great concern to the government. We understand the challenges facing that community, and the government is committed to continuing to work with the federal, provincial and Indigenous partners to develop a long-term solution on that bridge. I know that ministry officials continue to meet with the community and their leadership for terms of reference on the bridge. I look forward to the follow-up question from the member." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "MPP Lise Vaugeois", "text": [ "In my conversation with the chief this morning, those long-term solutions do not address the immediate needs. In the 1960s, federal and provincial governments expropriated Indigenous lands and water rights at will and gave them to industry. Eagle lumber’s current ownership of the bridge is a problem that Ontario helped to create. As of this morning, neither the Premier nor the Minister of Indigenous Affairs has reached out to speak with Chief Taylor. It’s winter up there right now, and an elder with pneumonia had to walk across this bridge to get an ambulance.", "Premier, will you immediately purchase the land, fix the bridge and work with the federal government to pay for permanent solutions?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will take their seats.", "Government House leader." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Clark", "text": [ "On behalf of the Premier and the minister, I want to make it very clear that we are committed to playing a key part in the tripartite working group with the community and the federal government. Timelines and steps have been laid out to repair or replace the Making Ground River Bridge. I know that the working group continues to meet on a monthly basis as this project moves forward and, again, the ministry has said to me quite clearly that they will continue to play an important coordinating role to ensure that all of the partner ministries are providing insight into this project." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. John Fraser", "text": [ "My question is for the Premier. I watched the Grey Cup game last night, and it was a great game. We watch a lot of football in the Fraser household, and this season there’s one thing that stands out above everything else: the millions and millions and millions of dollars that the Premier is spending on ads to convince us that everything is just rosy here in Ontario.", "The truth is that’s not the experience of families. Some six years later, it’s harder for them to put food on the table, to buy clothes for their kids, to pay their rent, to pay the bills, just to find a family doctor.", "Speaker, through you: When 2.5 million Ontarians don’t have a family doctor, how does the Premier justify spending millions and millions and millions of dollars on ads to tell everyone in Ontario, as he would say, that everything is just peachy-keen?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Minister of Finance." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy", "text": [ "Mr. Speaker, thank you, through you, to the member opposite for that question. We’re very aware, and have been for some time, that the cost of living is impacting many families in Ontario. That’s why we moved so early in 2022 to cap the gas tax, to take the tolls off the 412 and the 418, to take off the driver’s licence fees. We acted very early.", "1120", "Just a couple of weeks ago, we tabled the fall economic statement. What was in there? There was another gas tax cut. There were taxpayer rebates, so that people who are struggling today will get the relief they deserve today.", "Which way did the Liberal Party vote? They voted against it. They voted against helping struggling families in this province. They voted against the gas tax cut. They voted against providing relief to the struggling families of Ontario. This is a party that will never relent helping put more money back in the pockets of—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Thank you.", "The supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Fraser", "text": [ "Maybe if the finance minister spent a fraction of the money spent on these ads on finding, for the 13,000 people in his riding who don’t have a family doctor, a family doctor, we would all be better off. So these ads—they’re putting gambling ads to shame—", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Order." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Fraser", "text": [ "Speaker, here, let’s do this. What if I told you there was a place where families are just struggling to keep their heads above water?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Government side, come to order." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Fraser", "text": [ "Where 2.5 million people didn’t have a family doctor, where twice as many people were being treated in hallways in hospitals, and where 11,000 people died on a wait-list last year? So maybe a little closer to home.", "What if I told you there was a place where almost 100,000 people didn’t have a family doctor, and that 15,000 of those people were children? Well, Premier, it’s where you live: Etobicoke.", "So how can the Premier justify wasting millions of dollars on his orgy of feel-good ads while so many children in his own backyard don’t have a family doctor?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I’m going to caution the member on his choice of words, and also remind him to make his comments through the Chair.", "The Deputy Premier and Minister of Health." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "You know, with the greatest of respect, Speaker, and I hope you agree with me, there’s a way to have a debate without using inappropriate words in this chamber—", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Order. Stop the clock. The House will come to order.", "I need to be able to hear the Minister of Health. She has the floor. The question was posed to her. I think the House wants to hear her response.", "Start the clock. The Minister of Health." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "Speaker, imagine a place in 2015 where the Liberal government of the day cut 50 medical seats. We would have an additional 450 physicians trained and practising in the province of Ontario.", "Now, imagine a place—", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Stop the clock. The member for Don Valley East will come to order. The member for Glengarry–Prescott–Russell will come to order. The Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development will come to order.", "Minister of Health." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "Imagine a place where we wouldn’t have to be playing catch-up, and 450 physicians would have been trained and practising in the province of Ontario.", "Fast-forward, we now have and have licensed—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Thank you." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sylvia Jones", "text": [ "They really don’t want to hear this, Speaker." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I do, but sorry, time’s up.", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The House will come to order. I’m going to be moving to warnings now, just so you know.", "The next question." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mrs. Daisy Wai", "text": [ "My question is to the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. We know that Ontario faces a growing demand for skilled workers and we have people here, underemployed. Every day, we hear stories of newcomers with strong skills and years of experience who need help finding jobs in the trained professions.", "This is particularly true in Richmond Hill. We have a lot of newcomers. We have engineers, health care workers, tradespeople—highly skilled individuals ready to contribute to Ontario. But instead of working in their fields, they too often face unnecessary barriers, delays and red tape. This hurts our economy and our communities. It is clear that we need to do better to help these skilled immigrants get the jobs they are trained for.", "What is the government doing to help skilled newcomers find work in their professions faster?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. David Piccini", "text": [ "Thank you to the member for that question and for her advocacy to help people find better training and better jobs with bigger pay cheques.", "With our Working for Workers Five Act, we’ve taken a number of steps. In fact, we’ve streamlined the registration process for internationally trained workers. What has that meant? Thousands more nurses entering the ranks of nursing; more men and women in the skilled trades building a stronger Ontario.", "We know the federal government have grossly mismanaged our immigration system, and shattered and strained the consensus around immigration. While they work to fix the system they broke, we’re working hard in Ontario to set people up for success. Through our Skills Development Fund, we’ve trained over 600,000 workers: 92,000 in manufacturing, 66,000 in construction and 36,000 PSWs—and we’re just getting started." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mrs. Daisy Wai", "text": [ "Thank you, Minister, for your great work and for that strong leadership.", "The federal government has mismanaged the immigration system and, sadly, we have heard heartbreaking stories of newcomers who have arrived in Ontario with dreams of building a better life, only to be hurt by confusion and exploitation. Fraudulent agents promise quick fixes, fake job offers or forged school acceptances. It has to stop. This has not only crushed the dreams of all newcomers, but has put people in vulnerable and dangerous situations.", "The federal government has failed to protect these individuals, leaving provinces like Ontario to pick up the pieces. What is the government doing to crack down on this fraudulent immigration?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. David Piccini", "text": [ "Thank you to that member. She sees this first-hand in the GTHA. The broken immigration system has left provinces like Ontario to pick up the pieces and to fix the broken system. We’re shouldering the unsustainable financial costs of their inability to manage the asylum system, for example.", "With limited data sharing and no clear federal strategy, we’re seeing fraudulent immigration representatives all across Ontario misrepresenting application statuses on programs like the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program. While they dither, we’re going to act and we’re going to act aggressively. We’re stepping up and we’re introducing new legislative measures that impose fines, bans and stricter standards on scammers and scumbag bad actors. Their day in this country, their day in Ontario, is over.", "Stay tuned. I’ll be introducing more this week." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "MPP Jamie West", "text": [ "My question is for the Premier. According to a CBC freedom-of-information request, workers in Ontario are owed $60 million in stolen wages. Like Ontarians across the province, New Democrats believe in the value of hard work, and we believe that includes workers getting paid for their hard work. If those wages are stolen, then the government should be their ally and get them their money.", "My question is, why is the Conservative government allowing bad bosses to get away with stealing $60 million from Ontario’s workers?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. David Piccini", "text": [ "Thank you to the member for that important question. The bottom line is when workers are treated with disrespect, when workers’ wages are withheld, we have to act. That member’s absolutely right; it’s completely unacceptable. We’ve taken a number of steps as a government: implementing high fines and amending the Employment Standards Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act to make sure workers are protected.", "But we have to do more. We know that when this gets to court, judges often take great liberties with respect to these fines. That’s why in my next Working for Workers bill, we’ll be taking steps to crack down on that and make sure that these workers are treated with the respect that they deserve.", "I appreciate the member asking that question. He’s right. It’s unacceptable. We’re going to continue to act to protect workers in the province of Ontario.", "1130" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "MPP Jamie West", "text": [ "My question again is to the Premier. Speaker, Ontario’s workers have 60 million reasons to believe the Conservatives aren’t serious about getting their stolen wages back. The Conservative government will brag about doubling the fines for wage thefts, but during estimates the Minister of Labour wasn’t able to cite a single time that the previous maximum was ever used or enforced. The government’s own stats show us that most of the time stolen wages are never paid back.", "My question is, when will the Conservative government get serious about wage theft and collect the $60 million owed to Ontario’s workers?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will please take their seats.", "The Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. David Piccini", "text": [ "I appreciate, again, the question from the member opposite.", "Speaker, stay tuned for our next Working for Workers bill, where, again, that discretion that the judiciary has exercised—we’re going to be cracking down on that to make sure workers get what they deserve and making sure that bad-actor employers have serious consequences.", "But, Speaker, I have to say, when we’ve worked together on a number of initiatives, we’ve put workers first. Under the leadership of this Premier, we’ve worked together for firefighters, we’ve worked together with previous Working for Workers bills. I’m going to crack down on that.", "And they have millions of reasons to see why: Through the Skills Development Fund, we’ve acted to support 600,000 workers. They voted against that. We brought labour on side with our Working for Workers bills, after leaving them in droves, Speaker. And we’re working to build the coalition that supports workers in the province of Ontario.", "This has never been a one and done. That’s why, through successive Working for Workers, we’ll continue to put workers first and ensure that we build a stronger Ontario that we know we all need." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Goldie Ghamari", "text": [ "My question is for the Premier. Mr. Speaker, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year, Canadians gather to remember the sacrifice that veterans made. They gather to pay homage to those Canadians who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep Canada a safe and democratic country. It is a sacred day for Canadians and it is a sacred day for veterans.", "So you can imagine my surprise, Mr. Speaker, when we heard the news about a school in Ottawa where they took their woke leftist narrative—" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Doly Begum", "text": [ "It’s a song about peace. It’s a song about peace." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Order." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Goldie Ghamari", "text": [ "They took their woke left narrative agenda, Mr. Speaker, and they imposed it upon a Canadian tradition—" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Doly Begum", "text": [ "You called me a terrorist in this House." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Scarborough Southwest, come to order." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Goldie Ghamari", "text": [ "My question to the government is: Does the government, does the Premier think it’s appropriate to use taxpayer-funded dollars to disgrace Canadian veterans?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Order.", "The Minister of Education." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Jill Dunlop", "text": [ "I was just as disturbed by this as the member is. Myself, my staff, the Premier as well heard an outpouring of reaction from parents, from taxpayers. I had the opportunity to speak with the director of education to find out what the next steps were going to be, and the board will be investigating the situation." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Goldie Ghamari", "text": [ "Thank you for the response from the minister.", "My supplementary question is: Mr. Speaker, if you go to the Royal Canadian Legion’s website, the first thing it says is, “On Remembrance Day we honour those who gave their lives to serve our country.” That country is Canada.", "My parents immigrated from a brutal Islamofascist dictatorship and came to Canada because they wanted their daughters to be raised in a free and democratic society. The reason Canada is the way it is today is because our veterans paid the ultimate sacrifice. So my question to the Premier is, will this government make a commitment to ensure that the disrespect that was given to veterans on November 11 will never happen again in a taxpayer-funded institution?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Jill Dunlop", "text": [ "I too want to thank all the veterans and their families who made the ultimate sacrifice. I had the opportunity to attend many Remembrance Day services in my own area, as well as the Indigenous Remembrance Day ceremony.", "I want to assure the member that I had a conversation with all directors of education and board chairs on Friday where we discussed—one thing being the discretionary spending that has been happening, but also the politics in the classroom. I wanted them to commit to ensuring to keep the politics out of the classroom and the focus to be on back to basics—ensuring that our students are there and preparing them for the jobs of tomorrow. That is my commitment to our children and to our—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Thank you.", "The next question." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Rick Byers", "text": [ "My question is for the Associate Minister of Forestry and Forest Products. Ontario’s forest products are a cornerstone of our economy, supporting thousands of jobs in communities across the province. From lumber mills in the north to cutting-edge wood construction in the south, this industry touches every part of Ontario.", "But, sadly, the Trudeau-Crombie carbon tax is driving up costs for everyone. It’s making it harder for forestry companies to compete and forcing families to pay more for essentials like home heating and building materials. This tax doesn’t just hit big companies, it hurts workers, their families and entire communities that rely on the forestry sector to thrive.", "Speaker, can the associate minister please tell this House what our government is doing to support this vital industry in the face of this harmful tax?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Kevin Holland", "text": [ "Thank you to the member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound for that question.", "I’m proud to say that our government is supporting the forestry sector despite the disastrous Trudeau-Crombie carbon tax. Our government is building programs to support businesses in the forestry sector, helping to lower costs and create jobs, all while managing carbon emissions. That is why we invested close to $5 million in Element5, Ontario’s first certified mass timber plant, a state-of-the-art facility in the great riding of Elgin–Middlesex–London. This is an investment in the forestry sector that will create jobs, use our great renewable forest products while helping to build homes.", "And not only that: We are providing nearly $8 million in funding for advanced wood construction projects, supporting projects like the University of Toronto’s 14-storey mass timber building, the Academic Wood Tower just north of here on Bloor Street.", "It’s our government that’s supporting innovation, creating jobs and reducing emissions, and we will continue to do so." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Rick Byers", "text": [ "I thank the associate minister for that response.", "It’s clear that the Trudeau-Crombie carbon tax is not only hurting the forestry sector, but all hard-working Ontarians. This tax makes everything more expensive, from running a business to heating a home. Families are struggling to make ends meet, and small businesses, especially in rural and northern communities, are feeling the financial pressure. They’re seeing their costs rise, their margins shrink and their futures put at risk.", "While Liberal and NDP members support these harmful policies, our government needs to focus on real solutions that will help the people of Ontario. Can the associate minister please explain how our government is giving financial relief to Ontarians to cope with these rising costs?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Kevin Holland", "text": [ "Thanks for that great question. It’s disheartening that members opposite support a tax that harms our northern and rural businesses, while routinely voting against policies to support them. This government is taking a different approach. We are providing financial relief for families and businesses.", "Speaker, times are tough. Inflation and the cost of living are stubbornly high. And that’s why our government is providing the extension of the gas tax cut, saving Ontario households, on average, $380 per year since the cuts were first introduced in July 2022. And this is saving the forestry sector $2.8 million a year.", "The Premier and the Minister of Finance are taking action to provide families, people and workers some much-needed relief. Starting in early 2025, every Ontario tax filer will receive a $200 rebate, as will every child in qualifying families. These are the latest steps to put more hard-earned money back into the pockets of the people of Ontario. It’s a shame the members opposite will put politics ahead of affordability for Ontario’s families and businesses." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Peter Tabuns", "text": [ "Speaker, my question to the Premier: Hydro consumers in Ontario deserve to be protected from higher prices, but the fall economic statement continues a Liberal plan to increase privatization and consolidation of local hydro utilities by giving tax breaks to private investors. Why is the Premier giving tax breaks to private investors when it means higher prices for consumers?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The associate minister of electrification.", "1140" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sam Oosterhoff", "text": [ "I’m very pleased to answer the question from the member opposite.", "As the member knows, we have taken substantial steps, since coming to office, to finally fix the hydro mess that we saw created under the Liberals and supported by the NDP in the province of Ontario. We saw hydro rates go up by 300% when the Liberals were in power, and every single step of the way, we saw the NDP support them.", "That’s why, in comparison with the Green Energy Act fiasco that we saw under previous governments, we have the Affordable Energy Act that is being debated in this chamber, setting, as a base-level support for the people of Ontario—strong support on affordability and strong measures to ensure that our local distribution companies and every part of the energy sector are working together to address affordability for the province of Ontario.", "I’ll speak more about why the measure included in the fall economic statement is so important to support affordability and ensure that more people in the province of Ontario are receiving affordable, reliable, clean energy—a luxury that we didn’t have under the former Liberal government." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Peter Tabuns", "text": [ "Notwithstanding what has been said, the government continues to perpetuate Liberal policies that will drive up hydro rates.", "We all know the strong rise in hydro rates started with the privatization of power by the Harris Conservatives. The Liberals continued the privatization and extended it to local utilities, claiming it would save money. But the Auditor General, in 2022, showed that smaller utilities were, on average, more efficient than the bigger ones.", "The program this government is continuing is one that will drive up hydro rates. They’re following the Liberal example.", "When will the Premier abandon this Liberal policy that drives up hydro rates?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Sam Oosterhoff", "text": [ "It’s rich coming from the member opposite—speaking about driving up hydro rates.", "We heard from the Auditor General, when the Liberal government was in power, supported by the member opposite, who was here at that time—a 300% increase. What did that look like? That meant that we saw, in the feed-in tariff system, FIT contracts that were 10 times market value—80 cents a kilowatt hour—and that directly led to the massive increases in electricity rates.", "We had a plan, when we came in, to stabilize electricity rates, and it has worked. As a result of that plan, we’re attracting new businesses, new entrepreneurs into the province of Ontario, and we’re seeing that economic growth in every single corner. But it’s not just about businesses, it’s about the people of the province of Ontario, who no longer have to choose between heating and eating.", "Every single aspect of our integrated energy plan is focused on affordability for the people of this province, as we lean into our clean energy advantage, create a superpower here in the province of Ontario and ensure that we’re able to export that energy across the continent as well, supporting families, supporting job creators and supporting the people of the province to grow and thrive." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Robert Bailey", "text": [ "My question is to the Minister of Francophone Affairs.", "Speaker, in my riding, there’s a vibrant francophone community that has called Sarnia home for over 400 years. I know how important it is for residents of Sarnia to receive the support they need in their first language.", "For far too long in this province, Franco-Ontarians were left behind, unable to receive services in French, which is frankly unacceptable. That’s why our government must ensure that our francophone population is being respected and their needs are being met.", "Speaker, can the minister please explain what actions our government is taking to ensure that Franco-Ontarians across this great province, including in my riding of Sarnia, have greater access to French services?" ] }, { "speaker": "L’hon. Caroline Mulroney", "text": [ "Merci au député de Sarnia–Lambton pour cette importante question.", "Depuis le 1ernovembre dernier, la désignation de la ville de Sarnia en vertu de la Loi sur les services en français est officiellement en vigueur. Cette désignation fait en sorte que notre gouvernement fournit des services en français à Sarnia—le tout, conformément à la Loi sur les services en français modernisée par ce gouvernement en 2021. Cette avancée aurait été impossible sans le leadership du député de Sarnia–Lambton.", "This designation would not have been possible without the leadership of the member for Sarnia–Lambton.", "Monsieur le Président, notre gouvernement a été le premier depuis près de quatre décennies—vous avez bien compris, le premier depuis quatre décennie—à moderniser la Loi sur les services en français. Le gouvernement précédent était généreux en paroles mais avare en action. Nous ne sommes pas de cette école. C’est pourquoi nous continuerons, dans les années à venir—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Merci beaucoup.", "The supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Robert Bailey", "text": [ "Merci, Madam Minister.", "This is incredible news for the residents of Sarnia, as they join the 26 areas that have been designated under the French Language Services Act. I want to thank the minister for her support and leadership in making this designation happen for the people of my community.", "It’s encouraging to see that our government is delivering on our commitment to provide French-language services across this province. According to the 2021 census, 80% of Franco-Ontarians live in one of these designated areas. While significant progress has been made, more work is still needed to increase access to French-language services and supports of Ontario’s francophonie.", "Can the minister please inform the House on how the designation of Sarnia fits into this government’s long-term commitment to supporting Ontario’s francophonie?" ] }, { "speaker": "L’hon. Caroline Mulroney", "text": [ "Merci au député pour sa question. La désignation de la ville de Sarnia est un autre exemple de l’engagement de notre gouvernement à améliorer les services en français dans la province en répondant aux besoins de notre communauté francophone en plein essor.", "Ce travail est le fruit d’une étroite collaboration avec les intervenants de la francophonie ontarienne. Nous savons qu’investir dans la francophonie ontarienne, c’est aussi investir dans la prospérité et le potentiel économique de l’Ontario. La désignation de nouveaux secteurs et organismes s’inscrit dans notre stratégie à long terme visant à renforcer notre francophonie.", "Cette stratégie comprend notamment des investissements cruciaux en matière d’éducation en langue française et en facilitant l’accès à la justice. Les réalisations de notre gouvernement relativement à la francophonie dépassent largement celles de tous nos prédécesseurs et nous continuerons de travailler pour faire les choses comme il se doit." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Jennifer K. French", "text": [ "My question is to the Premier. The Financial Accountability Office has reported that Ontario’s exports are struggling and that we’ve now seen the third drop in the past four quarters. This reflects an ongoing challenge in the auto sector. We need to promote and support the auto industry. The automotive industry matters to Ontario.", "In Oshawa, we know a lot about the importance of a strong automotive sector. Auto manufacturers have been working to ensure that their products are not only made in Ontario, but that Ontarians choose to buy and drive them as well. One challenge that has been identified is the lack of charging infrastructure in the province and the lack of government leadership to ensure folks can charge their EVs or future EVs at home.", "My EV-Ready Homes Act is sitting in front of this government with support from industry to help build consumer confidence, and they are ignoring a real solution and a good idea.", "When will this government get it in gear and do what is needed to make sure Ontarians are buying vehicles of the future that are made here in Ontario?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Victor Fedeli", "text": [ "Thank you very much, Speaker, for the opportunity to continue to talk about our wonderful auto sector. Look, we’ve landed $45 billion. If you remember, only a few short years ago, both Australia and Ontario were headed off a cliff in auto. Australia decided to throw the towel in and get out of the auto business. Premier Ford said, “Not happening in Ontario. We’re going to save the 100,000 auto workers who were working in Ontario, whose jobs were in jeopardy.” We went from zero to $45 billion—that’s more than any US state has landed. In fact, in all of the United States, they’ve only landed $119 billion, compared to our $45 billion." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Thank you very much.", "That concludes our question period for this morning." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Burlington has informed me she has a point of order she’d like to raise." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Natalie Pierre", "text": [ "I’d like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the Toronto Argonauts on their remarkable victory in the 111th Grey Cup. This triumph, achieved through great determination and outstanding teamwork, marks their 19th Grey Cup title, a testament to their enduring legacy in Canadian football, and it’s a shining example of perseverance and excellence in sport." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Pursuant to standing order 36(a), the member for Ottawa South has given their notice of dissatisfaction with the answer to their question given by the Minister of Finance regarding advertising. This matter will be debated tomorrow, following private members’ public business." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Call in the members. This is a five-minute bell.", "The division bells rang from 1149 to 1154." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will please take their seats.", "On November 7, 2024, Ms. Bowman moved second reading of Bill 195, An Act to amend the Taxation Act, 2007 to increase Ontario small business deductions.", "All those in favour will please rise and remain standing until recognized by the Clerk." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "All those opposed will please rise and remain standing until recognized by the Clerk." ] }, { "speaker": "The Clerk of the Assembly (Mr. Trevor Day)", "text": [ "The ayes are 35; the nays are 64." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I declare the motion lost.", "Second reading negatived." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "There being no further business this morning, this House stands in recess until 1 p.m.", "The House recessed from 1158 to 1300." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Michael S. Kerzner", "text": [ "There’s a number of people that I wanted to recognize and acknowledge, people that help keep Ontario safe every day. Please let me acknowledge the president of the Ontario Provincial Police Association, John Cerasuolo; Mark Dapat, the deputy chief in Peel; Deputy Chief Roger Wilkie of Halton, who’s also the president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police; Chief Paul Pedersen, retired Greater Sudbury police chief, who is now the executive director of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police; the police chief from Durham Regional Police Service, Peter Moreira; Police Chief Bill Fordy, chief of Niagara regional police; the president of the Police Association of Ontario, Mark Baxter; and many others who have joined us, as well, today.", "Welcome to the Ontario Legislature." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Matthew Rae", "text": [ "I beg leave to present a report from the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy and move its adoption." ] }, { "speaker": "The Clerk-at-the-Table (Mr. Christopher Tyrell)", "text": [ "Your committee begs to report the following bill, as amended:", "Bill 197, An Act to amend the Highway Traffic Act / Projet de loi 197, Loi modifiant le Code de la route." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Shall the report be received and adopted? Agreed? Agreed.", "Report adopted." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Pursuant to the order of the House dated October 29, 2024, the bill is therefore ordered for third reading." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.", "First reading agreed to." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Would the Solicitor General care to briefly explain his bill?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Michael S. Kerzner", "text": [ "This bill proposes amendments to the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019, the Community Care and Recovery Act, 2024, the Highway Traffic Act and various other acts. If passed, this legislation would help protect children and keep communities safe while fighting auto theft and creating a more effective justice system." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Anthony Leardi", "text": [ "I move that the Standing Committee on Government Agencies shall not meet during its regularly scheduled meeting time on Thursday, November 21, 2024, and instead be authorized to meet on Wednesday, November 20, 2024." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry?Carried.", "Motion agreed to." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens", "text": [ "This petition was presented to myself by Ashley Woolhead from Sudbury. I do agree with what she’s agreeing with within this—passing anti-scab labour legislation.", "The petition states that we should prohibit employers from using replacement labour—to prohibit employers from using both external and internal replacement workers. She also feels that Ontario workers—and pass anti-scab labour legislation, like the Ontario NDP’s bill, Bill 90, the Anti-Scab Labour Act, 2023. The use of replacement workers undermines workers, and scab labour contributes to higher conflicts on picket lines, which we don’t want to see. Strong and fair anti-scab legislation will lead to shorter labour disputes, which will help with safer workplaces.", "Speaker, I agree with Ashley Woolhead from Sudbury. I’m going to sign the petition and send it down with page Laura to the table." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Ted Hsu", "text": [ "This is a petition from residents of my riding of Kingston and the Islands, Wolfe Island, Simcoe Island, Howe Island, and it’s about the Wolfe Island ferry. They are asking the Ministry of Transportation to restore the 60-minute—the hourly schedule for the Wolfe Island ferry; it’s currently running at an 80-minute schedule. What has happened with disruption of the ferry service is that the local family medicine clinic was withdrawn—paramedic service was withdrawn in 2022. Contractors are withdrawing their services to the island because of the risk of irregular ferry service. It’s affecting tourism. Businesses on Wolfe Island have been affected by disruptions to the ferry service.", "So I join my constituents in Kingston and the Islands to call for the government to restore Wolfe Island ferry service at the previous hourly service or better." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "MPP Jamie West", "text": [ "This petition is entitled “To Raise Social Assistance Rates.” Basically, what the petition says is that the amount of money that you get on Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program is far below the Market Basket Measure poverty line—OW for an individual would be $733; ODSP, Ontario Disability Support Program, would be $1,368.", "There was an open letter that went to the Premier and two cabinet ministers, and it was signed by over 230 organizations that recommended that the rates for OW and ODSP be doubled.", "They also cite that back during COVID, when the CERB program was—federally, basic income was declared at $2,000 per month. As you can see, $733 wouldn’t even be half of that.", "The petition is asking the Legislative Assembly to double social assistance rates for OW and ODSP.", "I support this petition. I think it’s a noble cause—to make sure people get out of poverty. I’ll affix my signature and provide it to page Alina for the table.", "1310" ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Ted Hsu", "text": [ "I have a petition today called “No Farms, No Food,” signed by people from lots of different communities in southwestern Ontario. It is calling on the government to immediately take steps to stop the expropriation of prime agricultural land, and calling on the government to have a transparent and collaborative conversation with Waterloo region officials and farmers to promote sustainable development in that region of Waterloo." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Sandy Shaw", "text": [ "I have a petition entitled “Justice for Sexual Assault Survivors.” We just heard the Solicitor General table a bill in the House that he proposed will keep Ontarians and children safe. I’m hoping that in that bill, the Solicitor General has taken into account the fact that there are more than 12,000 cases of sexual assault reported in Ontario, but more than 80% of those sexual assault cases go unreported. We know that in 2022 alone, 1,326 cases of sexual assault were withdrawn or stayed before trial. So we have a system that’s allowing sexual assault perpetrators to walk free in this province.", "In 2019, the Auditor General put a recommendation forward making strong recommendations to improve this situation that is really difficult. As we continue to see an epidemic of intimate partner violence and femicide in this province, I’m hoping that this bill that we are going to see takes into account the issues I’m putting forward in this petition.", "Particularly, I hope that this includes an improvement to the Victim Quick Response Program, and that the recommendations from the Auditor General that want to make the system more responsive and not such a hostile space for survivors, where justice is often delayed—I have hope that this bill will include some of those provisions. We’ll see.", "I think that this is a very, very important petition. I’m going to sign it and I’m going to give it to page Ryan to take to the table." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Terence Kernaghan", "text": [ "The petition that I have to read today is entitled “Health Care: Not for Sale.” When we look at the track record of this government and their profitization of health care, this petition is to stop the privatization, to stop the profitization of our treasured health care system, something that is a Canadian value for all of us, except for those across the floor.", "This petition speaks about how privatization will bleed doctors, nurses and PSWs out of public hospitals and will make the health care crisis worse, something we’re seeing in real time. Privatization always ends up with people having to pay more for health care.", "It goes on to recommend some very specific measures that this government could undertake today. One of them is to repeal Bill 124, which they wasted thousands of dollars fighting in court—a losing legal battle; to retain, return and respect nurses, doctors and PSWs with better working conditions; to license the internationally trained health care professionals who are ready, willing and able to practise; to include 10 employer-paid sick days, as well as making education free or low cost for nurses, doctors and other health care professionals; to incentivize health care professionals to work in northern Ontario; and, more than anything else, to fund hospitals to make sure that there are enough nurses on every shift on every ward.", "This is something we fully support in the official opposition. I wish the government would think about our public health care system and not about the profit that certain people can make out of health care." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Peggy Sattler", "text": [ "I would like to thank Andy Kroeker, the executive director of West Elgin Community Health Centre, for sharing a petition that is signed by 780 people who live in the West Elgin area in towns from West Lorne, Rodney, Ridgetown, Glencoe, Dutton, Fingal and many more places.", "The petition speaks to the financial challenges that are facing the West Elgin Community Health Centre, which is one of 1,800 organizations in community health across Ontario that are all dealing with the fact that there has been a base budget increase of just 7% over the past 16 years, when inflation has shot up about 40% over that same period. This means that the West Elgin Community Health Centre is unable to pay fair salaries to their existing staff.", "So the petitioners call on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to deliver an immediate operational funding increase of 5% to the centre and the other community health organizations across the province, which would support the centre’s ability to care for patients and communities.", "I fully support this petition, affix my signature and will send it to the table with page Alina." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "MPP Jill Andrew", "text": [ "This petition is entitled “Petition to Raise Social Assistance Rates.” This petition acknowledges that people on ODS poverty and OW are unable to afford the basics, such as a safe place to call home.", "This petition recognizes that during the heights of the pandemic, the CERB program provided a “basic income” of $2,000 per month, which isn’t even a start, quite frankly, to afford a one-bedroom in Toronto–St. Paul’s, and those who have signed this petition know that as well.", "So really, this petition is calling for compassion. It’s calling for the recognition of folks who are on ODS poverty and OW that they deserve to have the ability to pay for rent, to pay for food, to afford medicine—the “luxuries” that every MPP in this House has.", "I absolutely agree with this petition, and I will affix my signature to this petition and hand it over to Ryan." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "MmeFrance Gélinas", "text": [ "J’aimerais remercier Juliette Denis de Hanmer dans mon comté pour ces pétitions. La pétition s’appelle « Prise en charge des médicaments contre le cancer pris à domicile ».", "Comme vous savez, monsieur le Président, si on vous donne des médicaments contre le cancer à l’hôpital, tout est gratuit, mais lorsque vous êtes à la maison, vous devez payer pour—le coût des médicaments contre le cancer pris à domicile peut être très élevé. En Colombie-Britannique, en Alberta, en Saskatchewan, au Manitoba et au Québec, ces provinces couvrent le prix des médicaments contre le cancer pris à domicile.", "La Société canadienne du cancer demande au gouvernement de l’Ontario de couvrir les médicaments contre le cancer pris à domicile, car les données démontrent clairement que ça va sauver des vies. Donc, les gens qui ont signé la pétition demandent au gouvernement de donner la priorité à l’accès au traitement du cancer en élaborant un programme provincial qui couvre entièrement les médicaments contre le cancer admissibles, qui sont pris à domicile.", "J’appuie cette pétition. Je vais la signer et je demande à Macarius to bring it to the Clerk." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam", "text": [ "I’m pleased to be standing in this House and to present this petition entitled “Petition to Raise Social Assistance Rates,” and it’s going to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. I want to say thank you to Dr. Sally Palmer of Dundas, Ontario, who has been raising this petition in this House for many years.", "The petition calls on the government to recognize that the poverty rate in Ontario is not addressed with the OW rate of $733 a month or $1,368 a month for the ODSP payment. There has been an open letter to the Premier and two cabinet ministers signed by over 230 different organizations that recommend raising this rate by doubling the rates on Ontario Works and ODSP. They also recognize that during the COVID pandemic, the CERB program gave a basic income to Ontarians of at least $2,000 a month.", "This petition is signed by residents from Hamilton to Caledonia, from Woodstock to Ancaster to Lakefield to Peterborough—and it’s more and more. I just want to say thank you, Speaker, for this opportunity, and may the government hear us one more time as we call for justice for those who are living on ODSP and OW." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I’ll remind the members to briefly summarize their petitions without getting into additional political commentary on the merits of the petition.", "The next petition.", "1320" ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "MmeFrance Gélinas", "text": [ "I would like to thank Carole and René Ménard from Hanmer in my riding for these petitions. They’re called “Improve Access to Primary Care.” Medicare is a program that defines us, Speaker. Care is based on our needs, not on our ability to pay.", "Unfortunately, right now in Ontario, 2.3 million Ontarians do not have a family doctor, do not have access to primary care. There are community health centres, Indigenous primary health care, nurse practitioner-led clinics, community-governed family health teams who could all take new patients if only we would fund them.", "So the people have signed the petition calling for an immediate increase to funding to community health centres, Indigenous primary health care teams, nurse practitioner-led clinics and community-governed family health teams to give access to primary care to every Ontarian who needs it.", "I fully support this petition, will affix my name to it and ask page Ryan to bring it to the Clerk." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Sandy Shaw", "text": [ "I have a petition entitled “Stop Ford’s Health Care Privatization.”", "As we know, we’ve been hearing today in the Legislature the questions that our leader, Marit Stiles, the official opposition leader, has been asking about the concerns that we’re seeing in our hospitals. We now have deficits all across the province in our hospitals, and there’s no clear answer as to how they are going to be addressed.", "We’re concerned that the privatization that is taking place under this government is bleeding nurses, doctors and PSWs out of our public hospitals, and it’s certainly making the health care crisis worse. Certainly, it’s making the human resource problem that all of our hospitals are facing—it’s become now an absolute crisis.", "We know Ontarians have experienced the clear impact of privatization. It always ends up with patients paying a bill. It ends up with long wait-lists. People are not getting the treatment and the procedures that they need. I’m sure all of our constituents are letting you know that they have a year, year-and-a-half, two-year wait-lists to get critical procedures, and so this is a very, very important petition that we hope the government will take to heart and stop underfunding hospitals and make sure that all hospitals have enough staff on every shift in every ward in every province across Ontario, to make sure that we’re serving the very basic needs of the people of the province of Ontario." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "I move that, whereas successive Ontario governments have downloaded approximately $4 billion in annual costs to municipalities for provincial programs; and", "Whereas municipalities rely on property taxes to pay for these downloaded costs, which has resulted in property tax increases across the province; and", "Whereas, despite these tax increases, many municipalities have had to make significant cuts to essential services, like public health, housing, public safety, transit, infrastructure and road maintenance; and", "Whereas the province needs a sustainable public infrastructure strategy to support growth, improve transit options, and ensure climate-resilience; and", "Whereas the government’s neglect of affordable housing and mental health and addictions programs has resulted in a homelessness crisis;", "Therefore, in the opinion of the House, the government of Ontario must reach a new deal with Ontario’s municipalities, which includes re-uploading provincial responsibility for public health, housing, highways and infrastructure." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Ms. Stiles has moved opposition day number 3, and I look to the leader of His Majesty’s loyal opposition to lead off the debate." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "It really is my pleasure to stand in this House this afternoon to discuss how urgent it has become for the province to give all municipalities a new deal—a new deal to meet the myriad challenges that are facing Ontario and Ontarians.", "Decades of unfair provincial downloads—cuts—have emptied the coffers of rural, urban, small, northern municipalities. They’re drowning under the huge costs to address issues that are shared responsibilities between the province and the municipalities: infrastructure, transit, housing, child care. Today, we need to all come together to pass this motion, our motion, to give predictable, reliable and sustainable funding that will let municipalities make long-term plans and deliver them.", "Speaker, the people of this province are looking for a government that will deliver, at the very least, the basics. Our new deal for municipalities is going to deliver exactly that and more.", "Earlier this year, some here will recall that I was at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference and I met, along with my colleagues here in the official opposition NDP, with a number of mayors and councillors and reeves and wardens, the hard-working people who are relentless champions and caretakers of the towns and the cities they represent. Everyone I met—all of them—had one thing to say. They said, “We need help.” I know that every member of the government opposite and all of the independents would have had similar meetings. The message was consistent among every one of them: “We need help.”", "I want to share a conversation I had with the mayor of Tweed, Don DeGenova. Mayor DeGenova told me how deeply his community is struggling—struggling with crumbling roads and bridges, and the rising cost of living. The mayor is a champion for his community, as are all mayors, but he shouldn’t have to beg the province just to do its job, to pay for the things that the province is responsible for. He shouldn’t have to lobby for Tweed residents to have safe roads and bridges to get to school and to work. These are not luxuries. And yet this is the reality that small towns and cities all across our province are facing. They are left to foot the bill for this government’s neglect.", "Neglect is something we’re seeing in so many different ways, all across the province, from the proliferation of encampments, people in parks and tents because they simply have nowhere else to go, to the one million people lining up at food banks, to the astronomical housing costs, to the mental health, addiction and opioid crisis that we’re seeing in every corner of this province. These are the result of decades of neglect, decades of downloading, decades of government cuts.", "In 2022, municipalities in Ontario spent $3.8 billion more than they received in areas of provincial responsibility like social housing, long-term care, ambulance services, social services, child care. These downloaded costs impose disproportionately high burdens on rural municipalities and the people who depend on those services.", "Rural and northern communities are having a harder time; that’s the truth. The areas they serve are larger, but they have smaller tax bases to draw from. In eastern Ontario, rural municipalities are spending $536 million a year to operate and maintain their transportation infrastructure, and another $321 million to operate and maintain their environmental services infrastructure.", "I want to thank the Rural Ontario Municipal Association for reminding us that rural Ontario municipalities contribute more than $480 million to health and social service programs, even as those rural families in those communities are losing access to those very services because of the Conservatives’ provincial cuts—cuts to emergency rooms and hospitals; cuts to the programs and the services that people depend on. But they are paying more for that every year, at a time when our communities are being absolutely ravaged by an opioid epidemic.", "I want to remind folks in this House that Sudbury was forced to shut down a site that was providing care for those suffering from addiction because of their funding challenges. This should never be the case.", "1330", "The thing is that what municipalities and the people of Ontario really need from this government at this point is just to do their job. Just do your job.", "A new partnership with municipalities and Queen’s Park, one based on respect—imagine that, eh?—mutual respect. Evidence—imagine if a government actually ran things based on evidence, respect, empathy.", "Our motion today takes us one step closer to that. Our plan for a new deal calls for consultation with municipalities on updating things like governance rules that, I’ve got to tell you, were created in the 19th century. We also have to look at how we’re going to actually empower those municipalities to meet 21st-century challenges.", "Our plan is a response to calls that municipalities all across Ontario have asked for, a social and economic prosperity review that is—let’s just be clear here—almost 20 years overdue. Our plan applies a rural and a northern lens to all issues. Instead of imposing a one-size-fits-all approach to solutions, it recognizes the very unique challenges and opportunities that are facing so many communities all across our province. Our plan for this new deal paves the way for a historic new partnership to address the challenges we’ve spoken about in this place so many times: housing, health care, education, transit, infrastructure.", "I want to take one moment here to talk a little bit more about housing, which is an issue we have been raising consistently in this House for years, but especially in light of the Financial Accountability Office’s report that came out last week that shows that we are just failing—“we”? No, sorry: The Conservative government is failing. They’re not even close to meeting their targets; in fact, they’re down over and over again.", "Just two weeks ago, this government, aided by the abstention of the Liberal MPPs in this House—and shame on them—voted against our motion to double the supply of affordable housing. I want to again remind members here why Homes Ontario is exactly what we need right now. Housing starts, again, are falling. The government is struggling to even come up with a definition for attainable housing, let alone a plan to build the homes that we need.", "We have served you up with a plan—a plan ready to deliver safe, secure, permanently affordable housing to the people of Ontario—and this government says no again and again, despite the fact that this is working in British Columbia. In fact, this worked in the province of Ontario for decades under Conservative, Liberal and NDP governments. We got housing built. People today rely on that housing. They deserve more.", "Under our new deal, we would upload the financial responsibility for affordable housing, for shelters, for homelessness prevention back to the province while maintaining a locally focused delivery, and that means in partnership with our municipalities. It would designate a single ministry responsible for the homelessness crisis. Wow, what a difference that would make, addressing the root issues of mental health and addiction and creating the necessary wraparound supports.", "Our new deal also addresses the crisis in health care. It will restore the 90-10 cost sharing with municipalities for ambulance services. My goodness, they need that. Boy, do they need that. It would also restore the 75-25 cost sharing for local public health units.", "And because people deserve local transit that’s reliable, accessible and affordable, our new deal would restore 50% funding for local transit operators.", "Ultimately, what this new deal establishes is a new kind of leadership: a leadership that recognizes the help municipalities need and respects all the very hard and important work that they do in keeping our towns and our cities, our communities running. The new deal for municipalities that we’re proposing here today allocates provincial infrastructure funding based on need, not self-serving politics. It replaces all of that with fair, predictable and consistent formula-based funding that municipalities can finally count on.", "What we’re proposing today is providing permanent funding that municipalities can count on so they can plan for our future instead of what this government throws at them: one-time infusions of cash. It’s about empowering communities; it’s about supporting each other to address the growing challenges that are facing all of us—including, by the way, the need to adapt to the increased risk of flooding and heat stress associated with the climate crisis.", "Ontario’s municipalities deserve better than the deal that they have right now. Boy, do they. They deserve so much better than this. Let’s just think about it for a minute here: What are municipalities? They’re people, Ontarians. Ontarians deserve better than what they have right now.", "I’ve got to tell you, I have taken so many calls from mayors and councillors and reeves who have told me about the challenges that are facing their communities. I have seen first-hand many of their struggles. Every one of us here has, and I know the members opposite have too. They absolutely have.", "This motion today is a response to their pleas. Undoing decades of underfunding and downloading isn’t going to happen overnight, but it has to start somewhere. Today’s vote is a chance to get things moving in the right direction and to start this important work. It’s an opportunity for us to signal a new era—an era in which the province supports its citizens and the communities that they call home. It’s about a government that will focus on getting the basics right, because—my goodness—people are struggling right now.", "Life in the province of Ontario has never been more expensive. We have never had encampments like this, but under the Conservative government of the Premier, Doug Ford, we have encampments in every community. We have an opioid, an addiction and mental health crisis—out of control. Our kids are sitting in classrooms freezing in the winter, overheating in the spring and the fall—too many kids in a class, not enough supports. Our transit is less affordable than it’s ever been, and less reliable. Our roads—our infrastructure is failing under this government.", "Life has never been more difficult than it is right now under this Conservative government, and it’s about time that this government joined us in trying to do something right for the people of this province. Let’s help our communities build up Ontario. That’s what this motion is about. Let’s come together, let’s pass this motion and let’s build a new deal for Ontario’s municipalities right now." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "Further debate?", "Interruption." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "Stop the clock.", "Interruption." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "We’re going to recess the House for a few minutes. Thank you.", "The House recessed from 1339 to 1348." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "Please be seated. Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Jeff Burch", "text": [ "I want to thank our leader for bringing forward this timely and important motion, calling for a much-needed new deal for municipalities. This is something municipalities, municipal leaders, AMO and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities have been calling for over the years as costs have increased for municipalities due to downloading and inflation, while revenue tools and provincial policies have failed to keep up.", "This was predicted by AMO 25 years ago, as our leader mentioned. I found a CBC article from 1999 that I’ll quote:", "“Ontario’s mayors and councillors are calling on the next provincial government to reverse most of the changes downloaded by the Harris Tories. They say it was a mistake to make property taxpayers responsible for health and social programs.", "“They say their communities will be in big financial trouble if the changes aren’t reversed.", "“Mike Power, the president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, says the restructuring of services such as welfare, ambulance and public health may have helped Harris’ bottom line, but it’s left towns and cities across the province $600 million in the hole.”", "That was 25 years ago, Speaker. But instead of reversing course, this government has doubled down and made things worse.", "1350", "Just a quick grocery list of how this government has treated municipalities: In 2019, there was a 10% reduction to provincial funding for child care services, reducing the provincial share from 80% to 70% of funding for child care services. The result: Municipalities are now responsible for 30% of the costs, leading to higher fees for families and fewer child care spaces.", "There was a 10% reduction in funding for ambulance services, decreasing from 50% to 40%, requiring municipalities to pay 60%, resulting in higher local taxes and service cuts.", "There was a 5% reduction in provincial funding for public health services, reducing the provincial share from 75% to 70%, which leads to higher local costs for services like vaccinations and disease prevention.", "Of course, we all know about Bill 23, which downloaded even more costs and mandates onto the backs of municipalities, with no provincial funding to make up the financial gap. AMO clearly warned that Bill 23 would reduce municipal revenues that fund growth-related infrastructure, transferring “up to $1 billion a year in costs from private sector developers to property taxpayers without any likelihood of improved housing affordability.”", "This government cut provincial funding for community housing by 70%, putting even more pressure on municipalities to address housing and homelessness challenges that were once provincial responsibilities. We see the effects of that today as we sit here in the Legislature.", "At the same time, this government has interfered in municipal jurisdiction, blaming them for all the world’s problems, especially on the housing file, and has shown a complete lack of respect and concern for the challenges facing Ontario’s municipalities, both large and small.", "Bill 5, on the heels of the 2018 election, cancelled regional chair elections and reduced the size of Toronto city council, disrupting municipal election campaigns that were already under way. Reminiscent of today, I can remember sitting here shortly after being elected, after we were called here for the summer, living in a hotel. I think I was standing here at 4 or 4:30 in the morning as people were being led out in handcuffs from the gallery. Here we are today, and we’ve seen what’s happening today.", "After a lower court found Bill 5 unconstitutional and granted a stay, the government passed Bill 31, invoking the “notwithstanding” clause to bypass constitutional rights and push the bill through.", "We had Bill 218, which included a clause repealing the legislation allowing municipalities to use ranked ballots in municipal elections, removing a local democratic option.", "We had the strong-mayor system, which empowered mayors to veto any bylaw that could interfere with provincial priorities, reducing the influence of municipal councils on local decision-making.", "The list goes on and on: Bill 39 expanded strong-mayor powers, allowing mayors to propose and pass bylaws with the support of only one third of council members, undermining the principle of majority rule and diminishing the role of councillors.", "We had MZOs, ministerial zoning orders, a tool the provincial government can use to overrule or bypass bylaws, planning decisions or processes with little or no transparency and accountability. To date, this government has issued more than 100 MZOs.", "Of course, we’ve all been hearing lately about bike lanes. The Ontario government’s new Bill 212 is interfering in municipal jurisdiction once again and requiring them to get permission to install bike lanes while empowering the province to rip out existing lanes.", "The list goes on and on and on, Speaker—the disrespect and lack of partnership shown by this government towards municipalities.", "As a former city councillor and budget chair in a large urban municipality in Niagara, I know how difficult it is to prioritize spending and balance competing priorities around a fixed budget while trying to keep property taxes affordable. Municipalities, now more than ever, need a partner that will help them to continue delivering the basics while keeping property taxes under control. We believe the best way to do that is for the province to start doing its job so that municipalities can do theirs.", "Health care; public health; housing; mental health and addictions; our social safety net: these are provincial priorities and responsibilities that have been downloaded onto the backs of Ontario’s towns and cities. These downloads result in tax increases. Ontarians deserve better than a Premier that passes the buck, and it’s time to change that.", "By supporting our motion today, this government can reverse course, become a real partner to municipalities, start doing its job and deliver on the basics, which is to focus their cities and towns on keeping property taxes down and making life more affordable for everyday Ontarians." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Chandra Pasma", "text": [ "I’m very pleased to be able rise today to speak to the leader of the official opposition’s motion calling for a new deal for our municipalities by restoring provincial responsibility for public health, housing, transit, highways and infrastructure.", "The truth is that this government’s downloading is costing people. The government is pretending they are keeping taxes low for Ontario residents, but the truth is that there’s only one taxpayer, and the Premier’s politics are driving up costs for municipalities, who then have to increase taxes. This is the direct consequence of the province’s refusal to cover the costs of these essential services. It has a severe impact on the ability of municipalities to provide these services, which is why we don’t have the world-class transit and infrastructure that we deserve. It also costs people more when that happens.", "To give an example of what this looks like, I want to talk about public transit in Ottawa. A different Conservative government, the Bill Davis government, had the target of splitting transit funding 50-50: 50% covered by the province, 50% covered by the municipality. But under the Liberals, that target got wiped out, and we saw municipalities cover more and more of the cost of public transit.", "Under the Conservatives, the government is currently contributing around one third only. As a result, OC Transpo has a shortfall of $120 million this year, and that shortfall is being addressed through a massive fare hike. For seniors, the cost of a monthly bus pass in Ottawa is increasing 120%; it’s going from $49 a month to $108 a month. I have a lot of seniors in my riding who depend on the bus because they’re on a fixed income or because they’re no longer able to drive. Those seniors will now be paying $58 a month more, all because this government doesn’t care to properly fund public transit.", "The government is going to send everyone a $200 cheque, but for seniors in Ottawa West–Nepean, that won’t even cover four months of their increased costs because of the government’s underfunding of public transit. That’s not even to mention the other $508 a year that they are going to have to spend annually for their bus pass.", "The youth fare is also being eliminated, and free rides for 11- and 12-year-olds as well. They will now have to pay the cost of an adult bus pass, which is $135 a month. For a family with an 11-year-old, they are now paying $135 a month that they did not have to pay before. That is $1,420 a year after you subtract the $200 cheque. Let’s be honest that most of the families who depend on bus passes for their kids are lower-income families; they can’t afford to start paying $1,420 a year.", "These are the kinds of costs that the Ford government is passing on to Ontario residents. This makes zero sense. It’s time for the government to finally care about the costs that the people of Ontario are paying and lend a helping hand." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Peggy Sattler", "text": [ "The people in London West deserve a provincial government that makes life easier and takes care of the basics. But six years of Ford Conservatives has left communities like London struggling to provide basic services. Municipalities like London are being forced to use revenues raised through property taxes to fill the gaps caused by the province’s failure to properly fund provincial programs, when the reality is that property taxes were never designed or intended to address social services like mental health, addictions and homelessness.", "This year, London is looking at a property tax increase of 7.4%, in part because of this government’s downloading of costs related to mental health and addictions, homelessness and more. Budget pressures are forcing the Middlesex-London Health Unit to end its program of public health nurses in secondary schools, at a time when students are struggling more than ever.", "1400", "Community non-profits that rely on municipal funding to do vital work are facing the prospect of significant cuts. Thirty-three of London’s largest non-profit organizations that deliver services in health care, education, housing, children’s services, arts and culture, food security, employment supports and more have written a letter imploring the city of London to maintain their funding. They highlight the “unprecedented increase in demand for services” and the “heightened need for mental health services” and affordable housing.", "Last week, I met with the CEO of London Public Library, who told me that $1 million a year—that’s money that comes from the city—is being spent on security to deal with the crisis of mental health addictions and homelessness. This crisis is affecting every single library branch in our city. Encampments are sprouting up on library property. People are sleeping in their cars on library parking lots and using library facilities in the morning.", "The downtown branch’s partnership with an on-site CMHA mental health worker lost most of its city funding this year and is only continuing because London Community Foundation stepped up to support.", "London is now the second-most congested city in North America because of a lack of investment in municipal public transit systems.", "Speaker, Londoners need this government to move forward with a new deal that puts our communities first. I call on this government: Support our motion and start taking responsibility to pay for the services that should be paid for by the province. Municipal property taxes should be used to pay for municipal services, not to subsidize provincial programs that this government is failing to deliver." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Dave Smith", "text": [ "It’s an interesting debate that we’re having today on this. I think there’s some stuff that’s lost on this as the conversation is going on.", "I’d like to point out that in estimates, the member from Waterloo, who is the critic for finance, made a comment about how we needed to increase the funding for the OMPF, which is funding that goes directly to smaller municipalities to help with a lot of the infrastructure costs. We took that to heart. It was something that we looked at and said, “Yes, this is something that we should be doing.” So in our fall economic statement, we increased the funding by $50 million this year and $50 million more next year. It’s a $100-million increase in the OMPF, something that the members of the opposition advocated for in committee. We can pull up the Hansard from committee on it to see exactly what they said. But essentially, what it was was that we needed to put more money into OMPF to help those smaller municipalities, those northern municipalities, the rural municipalities in all of their spending. So we’ve increased it, then, by $50 million this year and an additional $50 million next year—a $100-million increase, and yet the member from Waterloo voted against it. In fact, the entire NDP caucus voted against it.", "So when they say things like, “The provincial government is not doing enough. The provincial government needs to do more”—when we do more, they still say no to it. That is not really what the message is that they’re trying to convey today. They’re saying on one hand that we’re not doing enough, and yet they voted against any of those measures that we do.", "When we look at the infrastructure funding, in particular, across all of Ontario, in 2023 alone, it was $10 billion that the provincial government transferred to municipalities. It grew by over 45% from 2019 to 2023. That’s a massive increase. That’s all to reduce the burden on those municipalities.", "I’m going to talk a little bit about my own municipality, because we’re going through some budget processes right now and there’s a lot of conversation about it. The city of Peterborough last year had a property tax budget increase of 7%. They said that it was an adjustment that they were making.", "In June, the chief financial officer for the city came out and said that he’s going to have to have a 10% increase just to maintain status quo. Council gave a direction to come back at 5%, but staff ignored that and came back and said a 7.8% increase is what they needed. And what they cut were things that really couldn’t be cut. They were cutting funding to the arts, multiple arts programs. They were going to cut a program that was a contractual obligation, a legal obligation they had to the downtown business association, and their staff are suggesting they cut it.", "The reason I bring these things up is because, as the NDP has pointed out, property taxes have been increasing, and they’ve been increasing significantly by a number of different municipalities.", "So the city of Peterborough is roughly 72 square kilometres, and they have approximately 85,000 people who live in the city of Peterborough. And I give those numbers for comparison, because when I look at what some of the other municipalities are doing, that have a different makeup of council, they’re doing things a little bit differently. I’m going to point out two in particular. The first one is the city of Kingston. Why do I bring up Kingston? There has been a long-time rivalry between Peterborough and Kingston, similar to the rivalry between Oshawa and Peterborough. Kingston at one point, in 1996, had a population of about 57,000 people, and at the time in Peterborough, the population was around 75,000, so Peterborough was a little bit bigger. In the last census, Kingston has a population of 130,000, and Peterborough has about 85,000. So Kingston has grown significantly faster and is a bigger community than what Peterborough is.", "Peterborough, as I said, has 72 square kilometres that make up the city boundaries. Kingston’s boundaries—I believe it’s 411 square kilometres, so about 330 kilometres, 340 kilometres bigger than the city of Peterborough. And I bring this up because if you have more land, you probably have more infrastructure; you probably have more roads, more sidewalks, more water/waste water infrastructure under the ground to service all that. That would make sense. They have a population of 130,000 versus the population of 85,000 in the city of Peterborough. Why do I bring that up? Well, because when you look at the services that you’re providing, if you have more people, then you’re probably spending more money. But here’s the real irony, Speaker: The proposed operating budget for the city of Peterborough for 2025 is about $265 million. When you throw the capital budget on it, it brings it up to about $411 million, but we’ll take the capital and put it aside for a moment and just talk about the operating budgets.", "Why do I bring that up? Why do I bring up that Kingston has more people, Kingston is bigger than the city of Peterborough, and the city of Peterborough’s proposed operating budget is $265 million, and the city of Peterborough was proposing to cut about $1.5 million from the arts community in grants that they were giving? That’s the backdrop I’m talking about. And why? Can anyone tell me what the proposed operating budget will be for Kingston for 2025? It’s $265 million, essentially the same as the city of Peterborough.", "Peterborough has had some left-leaning councils over the years, and I’m sure that the member from Leeds–Grenville–Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes would have some interesting conversations with me about some previous mayors that we had in Peterborough and some of the approaches of the previous mayors. I bring that up because you have on one hand a city that is 45% larger than the city of Peterborough, who is able to operate with exactly the same operating budget.", "The NDP have said that the problem is that there’s been downloads from the province on it. While the city of Peterborough is receiving about $82 million next year from the province—that’s the proposed amount—it will probably go up. We increased funding to them through the Ontario community investment fund by just over $1 million for next year, compared to last year. They received $1.88 million in brand new, found money through the Building Faster Fund. That was money that they had no idea that they were going to receive. We increased funding to the homeless prevention fund by $2.5 million. Again, all these things were done after the city’s budget had been set. So this was found money, to the tune of almost $5 million. That should reduce the tax burden for the property taxpayer. But through decisions that are made by staff members and approved by council, that was never realized.", "When the NDP talks about the province’s downloading—that seems to be one of their favourite expressions—they fail to recognize that the total budget for the city is the total budget for the city or the total budget for the municipality. When we come up with brand new money that they hadn’t even considered, that they didn’t have as part of their plan, it still gets spent and there’s still a burden that’s being put on the individual taxpayer for it.", "1410", "So when you look at what the province has been doing, we have been trying to off-load a significant amount of expenses, because it has been said multiple times that there is only one taxpayer. It is the same person, absolutely. Whether I’m going to them and I’m saying, “Pay a municipal tax,” or “Pay a provincial tax,” or “Pay a federal tax,” I’m going to the same person and asking them to pay those taxes. But we’re spending time and effort to build the province back up.", "I’m going to come back to the city of Peterborough, again—I know that it sounds like I’m harping on them, but I think this is a prime example of where, sometimes, municipalities get it wrong.", "When you look across all of Ontario, there has been a massive investment in electric vehicles, the Critical Minerals Strategy, the electrification of Ontario. And when we look at the billions of dollars that have been invested in this province by other companies to come here and do these things and build the employment base—it’s not just the job that is getting created. It’s not just the factory that’s being built. It’s not just the additional housing that is coming as a result of those workers moving to the area. Those businesses all pay taxes, and when you attract a business to an area, that increases the tax base for that area.", "What’s kind of ironic in all of this is that when we talk about taxpayers, we typically talk about the residential taxpayer. The commercial taxpayer and the industrial taxpayer do not pay the same rate as what the residential taxpayer does. In fact, municipalities will have a multiplier; in Peterborough, for example, it’s 1.5 times the residential. So a small commercial business downtown is paying 1.5 times what the residential taxpayer is. The business on the outside of the city of Peterborough is 1.5 times what the residential taxpayer is.", "Peterborough points out, because they’ve made this argument with me a number of times, that they are 37th of the top 50 municipalities. So there are 36 other municipalities who are charging a higher amount to those businesses. The focus should be, then, on how those municipalities can work more closely with the province to attract industry into their area, because that industrial taxpayer will pay significantly more than the residential taxpayer.", "What we hear from the different cities and municipalities that are being talked about as the examples of who need to have some funding given to them, it also coincides with the municipalities that are not reaching out and finding ways to attract industry. If you want to bring companies to your province, you need to have willing hosts. We have found that in different communities—the NDP, the opposition, have voted against all of those things—when we look at the $40-plus billion that has been invested by companies in the auto industry and what the spinoff means for those municipalities that are getting them.", "My good colleague from Hastings–Lennox and Addington has had, in Loyalist, part of the EV revolution come into his area. If you’ve ever been to Loyalist township—I refer to Peterborough as God’s country; Loyalist is a pretty nice place to live as well. It’s a pretty nice place. They’ve been able to attract someone, whereas other municipalities have not.", "Napanee has Goodyear that’s doing an expansion with tires specifically for electric vehicles, because we know the electric vehicles are much heavier than what a traditional internal combustion engine is, so the tires are going to be a little bit different for them. With Goodyear expanding, that is a significant increase in property taxes for the municipality of Napanee. It’s also some great jobs that are coming in for the people in that area. And when you have jobs in an area, you have more affluent people who are buying more houses as well, which increases the amount of revenue that goes to the municipalities.", "So if you take a look at it, what we have been doing in Ontario is, we’ve been trying to incentivize companies to come. We have been offering additional funding to municipalities so that they can build the infrastructure.", "In fact, we’ve tripled the amount of money for the housing-enabling water fund. We thought that we were going to be spending about $354 million on it, but we’re up to $1 billion that is being invested. That is, again, found money for the municipality, and the NDP do not want to give us any credit for that. The Building Faster Fund—we have targets that are set for all of those municipalities. Keep in mind, for a lot of those housing targets, they need water and waste water, so our housing-enabling water fund gives them the money to put the underground infrastructure in place—the piping for it. It also gives them the money if they need to do an expansion of their water treatment plant or their waste water treatment plant, so it’s the full gamut.", "The province is giving the municipalities money for this, which they can use to attract industry. When they attract those industries, they’re attracting more people to come to the area as well. We’re providing them the funding they need to put the infrastructure in, and when the homes are built in their area, we’re providing them additional funding, with the Building Faster Fund, to say, “Thank you very much for meeting the targets that were set for you. We’re going to reward you for it. Here’s extra money.”", "And when we look at the smaller municipalities, the more rural municipalities, the northern municipalities, we’ve increased the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund to help offset the costs for a lot of that infrastructure as well.", "So this is a government that is stepping up to the table and saying, “We recognize that there are costs involved with this. Here’s the money to do it.” We’re increasing the amount of money that each of these municipalities are having, so that they can get the job done, and what we see instead is, some municipalities are using money in ways that perhaps aren’t the most fiscal way of doing it.", "I’ll come back to Peterborough versus Kingston. Kingston is 45% larger in population. Kingston has four and a half times the land mass as the city of Peterborough. And yet their operating budgets are virtually the same. I could harp on Kingston a lot and continue to bring that up, but that probably wouldn’t be the best way to go, because someone would come back to me and say, “Well, do you know what, Dave? All you’ve done is, you’ve talked about one community, and one community could be an outlier”—and you’re absolutely right: One community could be an outlier.", "I want to talk about my seatmate and his community of Brantford that has 110,000 people in it, so 25,000 more people than the city of Peterborough, and it is just over 100 square kilometres, so about 30 square kilometres more than the city of Peterborough.", "Why does that matter? As I said before, if you have more land mass, you have more infrastructure—you have more roads, you have more water, you have more waste water, you have more hydro, you have more everything. Your buses are travelling further. Your snow removal is greater because you have more roads. You have more sidewalks, so your maintenance on your sidewalks—that is all going to be more. If you have more people, those people are coming into the municipal office and those people are using municipal services, and they’re talking to municipal staff, and they’re doing all of those things. So it would make sense to me that if I have a larger community than someone else, the larger community’s operating budget should be higher. I don’t think anyone in here is going to say, “No, the more people we have and the bigger the place is, the less money that has to be spent on it.”", "Brantford has a proposed operating budget $90 million less than the city of Peterborough—$90 million less. And they exceeded their housing targets, so they got extra money from the Building Faster Fund. So they’re doing something right, because Brantford—bigger than the city of Peterborough, more people than the city of Peterborough, presumably having to do more services than the city of Peterborough—can do it for $90 million less than the city of Peterborough.", "1420", "Now I’ll go back to Kingston again, because I had some of my residents in Peterborough say, “Yes, but you’re not taking everything into account.” Peterborough has a marina that they operate, and that’s an expense to the city of Peterborough, absolutely. Kingston has got a marina. Well, Peterborough has got Trent University. There’s this little university in Kingston that someone might have heard of called Queen’s, and it’s five times the size of Trent, so I’m struggling now with, “Okay, it’s the university’s fault.” But then they come back and go, “Oh, but Dave, Peterborough’s got Sir Sandford Fleming College.” There’s another institution called the Royal Military College in Kingston. “Well, it snows in Peterborough. We’ve got to get rid of all of the snow.” Kingston has the Lake Ontario effect, and having grown up in Prince Edward County, there’s many a time that the winters in Kingston are as bad or worse than they are in Peterborough. So there doesn’t seem to be a logical argument that can be made, then, how certain municipalities can manage their money effectively and not put themselves in a position where they are further burdening the individual taxpayer.", "Before I sit down, I want to throw this out as one more thing on it, because I think it’s really good to take a look at: the proposed budget per person for Peterborough—$3,045 next year, per person. That is what the proposed property tax is going to work out to. You can talk about it in terms of houses; I like talking about it in terms of people—$3,045. Kingston: $1,900 per person. Brantford: about $1,400 per person.", "So when you think about that and you break it down per person and you look at the amount of money that the province is giving to the municipalities and you look at what the province is responsible for and where the province is making those investments, you have to take a step back and say: Why is it that some municipalities can manage their money very, very well under exactly the same constraints, and you have other municipalities who have exactly the same constraints who can’t manage their money as well? I think it comes down to local decisions that are being made.", "And I want to throw this one last point out before I wrap up: I get accused all the time of being a Conservative, so I don’t care about the arts. I hear that all the time. And I want to point out something—it’s not a direct quote; I’m paraphrasing. But during the Second World War, Winston Churchill went to his cabinet and his administration and said, “We need to find a few million dollars.” One of the suggestions was to cut the funding to the arts in England during the Second World War, and Winston Churchill’s comment was, “Then what are fighting for if we’re just going to be the same as everyone else? Our culture is based on the arts, and we need to continue funding it.”", "Kingston is not cutting funding to the arts. Brantford is not cutting funding to the arts. Peterborough wants to cut funding to the arts. So the whole thing is, Kingston can manage their budget and give good services. They’ve grown from 57,000 to 130,000 in 28 years. That lets you know that people want to move there. Peterborough has grown from 75,000 to 85,000 in that same time period. Why? And the question has to be answered with: Kingston is doing something right. Brantford is doing something right. They can manage their funds and not put a burden on the taxpayer. And yet other municipalities cannot do that." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "MPP Jill Andrew", "text": [ "We, the Ontario NDP, are calling for a new deal for Ontario’s municipalities, which would include re-uploading provincial responsibility of public health, housing, transit, highways and infrastructure. I want to make it clear that this is an affordability-crisis solution.", "After six years with this government, Ontarians’ lives have not gotten easier; in fact, they’ve gotten harder and more expensive. Our new deal will reverse decades of cuts and downloads that have driven up costs for everyone. We’ll restore 50-50 provincial funding for municipal transit to improve reliability, affordability and accessibility. We’ll restore province cost sharing for ambulance services, for public health units.", "Our Homes Ontario plan, which this government shot down and denied, would have actually created 250,000 real, affordable homes. We would have done that through supports with co-ops, through working together with our local municipalities. We would have done this through non-market housing to give people a shot who can’t afford the condos and the houses that are going up across the province.", "We want to make it clear that by downloading these services, as you have to the municipalities that are already revenue-strapped, this means people are waiting eight, nine, 10, 11, 13 years and more for rent-geared-to-income, for social housing.", "Municipalities get 10% of the taxes we pay. Some 90% of our taxes go to the feds and the province—90%. That means that Ontarians deserve to get what they’re paying for, and under this government, we are not getting it.", "Frankly, a convenient $200 apology cheque cannot make up for homelessness; for their legacy of encampments; for stripping away consumption treatment sites that save lives; for food insecurity; for cuts to our education system; for people unable to get public health care and mental health care when they need it; for the poor treatment that so many of our tenants, including people in St. Paul’s, where I live, who are having to deal with predatory landlords. It just can’t. It’s too little, too late.", "We desperately need a new deal for our municipalities, one that will give the power back to our municipalities and its local community members. The idea of wasting $48 million to rip out bike lanes—$27 million of that, the city of Toronto has to shoulder. I can think of 27 million other ways that that money could be used to help our municipalities help our communities." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "MPP Zee Hamid", "text": [ "I would like to thank the member from Peterborough–Kawartha for his passionate speech, and I would like to tell him, through you, Speaker, that my town of Milton and the riding of Milton is also doing the right things that I’ll talk about later on today.", "I spent 12 years on the Milton council; four of those years were spent at both tiers, upper-tier and lower-tier. During my time on the council, I chaired more budget committee meetings than any other councillor, so I have some experience in municipal finances and taxes, the challenges municipalities face and where those challenges come from that I would like to talk about.", "Before I do that, I want to touch on some points, though. The Leader of the Opposition seemed to imply that municipalities primarily rely on property taxes. I can tell you that in the region of Halton’s previous budget, they’re getting $321 million from property taxes but $342 million from provincial funding, and provincial funding is a big source of municipal funding. In fact, municipalities rely on property taxes but also provincial funding as well as development charges, user fees and investment income. They have a lot of different revenue sources already.", "My big learning during my time on the council as I went to AMO, went to FCM and talked to other councillors and interacted with them was how different each municipality was. Challenges facing Mississauga are very different from challenges facing Timmins, and challenges facing my town of Milton are different from what someone in London or Windsor face. That’s why a one-size-fits-all solution just doesn’t work.", "I do want to talk about overall funding. Between 2019 and 2023, the provincial funding to municipalities has grown at a rate of 10% a year. Cumulatively, they’ve gone up by 45%. Last year alone, $10 billion was transferred to municipalities. That’s a record investment. It’s a record investment in not just municipalities but also, indirectly, a record investment in infrastructure, in community programs, in transit.", "1430", "I want to go back to my riding of Milton. During my time on town council in Milton, the town council passed motions, not once but twice, asking the province to build Highway 413. In fact, 413 is supposed to start from Trafalgar Road in my riding of Milton, where Milton plans to put a high-density development—20,000 jobs and over 35,000 residents. Traffic projections in the town of Milton show that without this highway, we will be at a gridlock. This is another form of support for municipalities that we’re providing, because we know that municipalities in Milton and other areas that are touched by 413 cannot fund the highway themselves. That’s why we’re stepping in to build it—something that we don’t have the support for from other parties.", "Just two weeks ago, in the fall economic statement, we increased the OMPF funding by $100 million. In 2024-25, I just want to say, Thunder Bay will receive $24 million under this program; Greater Sudbury, another $24 million; Chatham-Kent, $21.5 million; Sault Ste. Marie, $20 million; Windsor, $24 million; North Bay, $11 million; Timmins, $11 million; and so on.", "The criticism that we’re not helping municipalities or we’re not partnering with municipalities is insincere, frankly. We provided over $3 billion in investment in housing and community-enabling infrastructure, including $1 billion in municipal housing infrastructure funding programs, $1.2 billion for the Building Faster Fund. My town of Milton received $8.4 million just in March. That’s going to be used to build a lot of infrastructure required for building housing. We’ve allocated $200 million over three years for the new Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund, $1 billion over five years for the Homelessness Prevention Program—and I could go on.", "But I want to talk about what municipal governments are typically responsible for: things like transit, transportation, library system.", "Let’s talk about transit. During my time on council, we brought up the issue of One Fare a lot, under the previous government. I know that there are no members from the Liberal Party here, but still—through you, Speaker. We brought that issue up a lot. Nothing got done. It was really this government that stepped in to do that. It’s not direct funding to municipalities, but it helps municipal taxpayers a lot. In fact, in my own household, two of my stepdaughters commute into Toronto, and we are direct beneficiaries of this One Fare program. When they get on Milton Transit and take the GO train and then take the TTC, they only pay once, when they used to pay three different times. Before I came to provincial politics, I used to commute to downtown Toronto, paying multiple fares.", "We have stood behind the town of Milton’s ask for GO Transit, announcing funding for all-day, two-way GO train service, provided that the federal government comes with its share of the funds as well and matches our funding.", "The Minister of Transportation was in Milton just a month ago, when he met the town staff and we went over our plan for all-day, two-way GO train service in Milton. That also is not direct funding to the municipality, but it does help the municipality. It helps the town of Milton attract businesses, which helps keep the tax rates low. It helps them attract residents. It helps them attract jobs.", "I do want to talk about tax rates, in comparison, which is actually an important topic that the member from Peterborough–Kawartha touched upon as well. An average house in the town of Milton is roughly $1 million, the tax rate is 0.7%, so you know an average house pays roughly $7,000 a year. Just south of us, in the town of Oakville, an average house is worth $1.5 million and the tax rate is 0.73%, meaning an average house pays $11,000 in taxes. There’s a 50% gap. So if you live in Oakville, you pay 50% more than if you live in Milton. In many ways, that’s okay, because the taxpayers in Oakville decided what level of service they want to receive, what level of service they want to fund, and they funded those services through their council. Taxpayers in Milton decided what their priorities are, and they funded it through the council in Milton.", "It’s really important to understand the different municipalities. One of the biggest benefits of having municipal governments is that different municipalities and the taxpayers and the councils get to decide what they want to fund and what they don’t want to fund. They do help health in the provincial government—like I said, $10 billion last year alone. But ultimately, it’s up to their municipal councils and municipal taxpayers to decide what level of service they want to receive. That’s a good thing because someone who wants to pay higher taxes and get the kind of service that Oakville provides can move down to Oakville and enjoy those benefits. Someone who enjoys lower taxes and efficient service, as the town of Milton provides, are welcome to live in Milton.", "I also want to talk about other levels of funding that’s not directly to municipal. Our Skills Development Fund is something that my own riding of Milton has benefited greatly from. My riding of Milton is getting two new schools this year—they started two new schools this year: Cedar Ridge Public School with 770 students and 88 licensed child care spaces; and St. Josephine Bakhita Catholic elementary school with 671 students and 88 child care spaces. Overall last year, we opened 21 new schools and additions with 7,000 new students. Compare that to the previous Liberal government that closed 600 schools.", "This is all funding for local communities that our government does. We put shovels in the ground for hospital projects like Niagara Health System, Scarborough Health Network, Ottawa Hospital, Cambridge Memorial and so many more.", "Ultimately, what do municipalities want? They want a government that’s building infrastructure for the growing population or the aging population. They want a government that’s funding child care for the younger citizens. They want a government that’s there for their citizens, and we’re doing all of that. We’re giving municipalities more money than any other government in the history of Ontario, and we also have raised it at a faster pace than anyone else. Like I said, an average of 10% a year since 2019 is a huge increase—a 45% increase. That’s $10 billion in funding that municipalities received from the provincial government just last year alone.", "I did talk about how municipalities are different. The challenge with adding another layer of tax—because frankly, Speaker, any kind of additional funding comes from taxes. As the member opposite said, there’s only one tax grid—that’s true. In order to provide more services, we raise taxes and provide that thing, so either way, whether they’re paying through their property taxes or they’re paying through provincial taxes, taxpayers are paying for it.", "The advantage of our approach that funds programs based on targets, that funds housing infrastructure programs, that funds programs that are important and lets local communities decide what’s important for them—our approach recognizes that local communities are different; that there are different solutions for different communities.", "Challenges facing Mississauga are very different and solutions that apply to Mississauga and the costs that those solutions carry are also different, and it should be up to the taxpayers of Mississauga to decide how and what they wish to fund. Likewise, taxpayers in Milton are happy with a certain service standard and they’re funding it the way they wish to fund it. Taxpayers in Oakville are different, like I said. An average taxpayer in Oakville pays 50% higher property taxes than the average taxpayer in Milton because they made different choices, and they should be able to do so.", "That’s why the one-size-fits-all solution, or solution that raises taxes even more at the provincial level, just doesn’t work because it ignores differences between municipalities; it takes their autonomy away. It doesn’t recognize that different taxpayers and different municipalities wish to tackle different challenges and wish to do them differently.", "I do want to talk about the combination of the Homelessness Prevention Program—$1 billion to fund that—as well as $1 billion in the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program. I mentioned my riding of Milton received $8.4 million in March. It’s from the $1.2-billion Building Faster Fund, and that happened because we achieved our housing target. This kind of funding is important because it gives municipalities a performance-based funding. The fact that the town of Milton did something better—they got awarded for it, they can take that money and invest it in areas that help them do that job even better. They’re using that money to hire planners to handle development applications faster. They’re using that money to hire urban designers to handle applications faster.", "Compare that to other municipalities that did not get this funding because they didn’t meet their housing target, such as the city of Mississauga. Funding the way we fund them rewards excellence, it rewards performance, and it doesn’t award mediocracy, which is how it should be.", "1440", "Writing a blank cheque—I do want to mention that, as far as I recall, the city of Mississauga is one of the only municipalities where affordable housing starts actually went down; they hit only 40% of the targets last year. The notion that everyone should be funded equally, that everyone should get a blank cheque regardless of how they’re performing, it’s just not what we stand for. It’s not how business is done anywhere.", "I want to talk about the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund. We’ve quadrupled that fund, because we know that a growing population requires housing, we know that it requires investment in water systems. That’s why we haven’t just increased it, we haven’t just doubled it, we haven’t just tripled it, we’ve quadrupled it. All that is going to help municipalities tackle the issue of infrastructure. It’s helping municipalities tackle the issue of transportation. It’s helping municipalities tackle the issue of transit.", "Let’s talk about transit. We have five different transit lines in construction right now—when has that happened in the history of Ontario?—the Ontario Line, Scarborough subway extension, Eglinton Crosstown West extension, Yonge North subway extension, Hamilton light rail, and not to talk about GO Transit: increased bus service in my riding of Milton; increased train service in my riding of Milton; working on all-day, two-way GO train service in my riding of Milton. All of these things help municipalities in ways that the municipal taxpayers directly benefit from.", "Not every type of help, not every type of support is done through a direct dollar transfer. I’m fundamentally opposed to a blank cheque transfer that’s not attached to specific programs. We are responsible for our own taxpayers. I know there’s only one taxpayer, but when we’re collecting taxes as the province of Ontario, we’re answerable to our taxpayers. We cannot simply waste their tax money and write blank cheques without any performances assigned to them.", "Municipal taxpayers can keep their municipal council accountable through their votes, and, therefore, it makes sense to let municipal councils and municipal taxpayers decide how they want to grow the community, how they want to invest in the community, whether they want to invest in arts or not, whether they want to invest in transit or not. It’s all local decision-making that we respect. Local autonomy is important.", "There are other grants that I haven’t talked about: grants and programs and applications that are based on need, that are based on funding, where municipalities and non-profits in different municipal areas apply for these grants. In my riding of Milton, our senior activity centre just got funding from the Ministry for Seniors. The Minister for Seniors, Raymond Cho, who’s celebrating his 88th birthday today, was in Milton a couple of months ago to make the announcement. If that funding wasn’t received, that money would have come from municipal taxpayers. It didn’t have to, because we stepped in to fund that program.", "We funded a skills program to the tune of $6 million in my riding in Milton—$6 million to train female welders to help with the shortage in that industry. That’s something that would have come from municipal taxpayers or private citizens’ pockets, but we’ve stepped in to fund that.", "The way we organize funding is better because we go where the needs are. We look at where the needs are, and when it’s better for us to step in to fill the need, we can step in to fill the need, or we can look at where performance is. If our goal is to build more housing, municipalities that do better, they get more funding; municipalities that don’t, they get less funding or no funding at all, and that’s exactly how it should be. Funding should be based on performance. Funding should be based on results. We’re answerable to taxpayers.", "I do want to mention something real quick. Let’s take OMPF. OMPF recognizes that different municipalities have different means to raise taxes. Take the region of Halton, which I mentioned earlier, that my riding is a part of. The median household income in the region of Halton is $157,000 a year, so the ability for the region of Halton to raise taxes is very different from some other municipalities. That’s why we increased this funding by $100 million over two years. That’s a significant investment, and that’s on top of everything else that was being funded.", "Like I mentioned earlier, municipalities like Thunder Bay, Greater Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie and Windsor, they’re all receiving over $20 million each year to help, because we recognize that they don’t have the same ability to raise taxes as some other municipalities, especially GTA municipalities.", "A lot of rural and northern municipalities, they benefit from this funding. What happens is—let’s say there was a new deal for municipalities and we wrote everyone a cheque. That means the municipalities that didn’t have the ability to raise money, like municipalities in the north and smaller rural municipalities—the money would come from them and fund municipalities like mine, for that matter, that actually have the ability to raise taxes because they have a large tax base, they have a large business base, they live in an urban area, they benefit from the presence of GO Transit, they benefit from the presence of multiple highways. My riding has Highway 407 and 401, and it’s going to have 413 soon. My riding has certain advantages that, say, Thunder Bay doesn’t have. So it doesn’t make sense for my town of Milton to receive the same level of funding as Thunder Bay, because they have certain challenges that we don’t have. It doesn’t make any sense for Mississauga to get the same level of funding as Sudbury, because they have different challenges.", "Our approach recognizes these differences between municipalities. Our approach recognizes municipal ability to pay. Our approach recognizes that different taxpayers are different. And our approach is more answerable to our taxpayers.", "To conclude, I’ll say that—and I’ll say it beyond a shadow of a doubt—to Ontario’s 444 municipalities, there has never been a better municipal partner than our government. We’re ensuring that they have all the tools necessary to meet the needs of Ontario’s communities, and that’s only done through our approach that we stand by." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam", "text": [ "It’s always an honour to rise in this House to speak on behalf of the good people of Toronto Centre.", "Can you imagine a city like Toronto having to ask this government for a level of respect? Toronto is Ontario and Canada’s business and financial capital. We produce 50% of the GDP for this province and 20% for the nation. And yet, we’re constantly, cap in hand, asking this government for a level of support and respect—whether it’s transit funding, health care funding, or just help to end the homeless encampments that we are seeing.", "But this government actually gets a share of some of this responsibility and the glory. Over 29 years, we have been ruled in this province by both Liberals and Conservatives. Mike Harris started this significant download trend on cities, followed by Ernie Eves. Then, Dalton McGuinty couldn’t reverse the trend. Kathleen Wynne couldn’t help us. And now we have this Premier back on track to continue to punch municipalities in the gut. We have seen the reckless downloading making the problem for cities bigger and bigger all the time. We have seen public health care being gutted. We have seen this province take away funding that would actually make life better and more affordable for communities.", "We recognize that in order for us to be successful in Ontario, we need to have a new deal for municipalities. Municipalities—not just Toronto—everywhere deserve a level of respect that they’re not getting from this government. We have over 444 municipalities that are paying over $4 billion for provincially mandated services that they have to bear on the backs of property taxes, which is grossly unsustainable. We need to be able to upload those services back onto the backs of this provincial government. That is something an NDP government will do. Only an NDP government will commit to it. An NDP government will get it done." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "Further debate?", "Interjection." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Matthew Rae", "text": [ "Everyone asks about the RCMP, but they should know that I became parliamentary assistant to the great Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing on March 10, 2023, after the greenbelt changes. Anyway, we’re not here to talk about that—history, everyone, data point. We’re talking about our great municipal partners in the province of Ontario that are working with us to build the homes that Ontarians need, to build the infrastructure, and to ensure that we get things done for the good people of Ontario.", "It’s a pleasure to rise today and talk about the record funding our government is providing to support our municipal partners across the province. We know that supporting municipalities is an essential part of keeping the dream of home ownership alive for young Ontarians. Municipalities are at the heart of our communities, and by supporting them, we’re empowering the foundation of our province’s future. By ensuring municipalities have the resources they need, we are also laying the groundwork for vibrant communities that offer stability, opportunity and hope for the future. Our government understands that building thriving communities means investing in the people and services that make those communities strong, and this is exactly what we are doing.", "1450", "Housing is more than just bricks and mortar; it’s a promise of stability, opportunity and community. Across Ontario, the dream of owning a home has become increasingly elusive for young families. The growing demand for housing, coupled with limited supply, has led to increased home prices and higher rental rates.", "We’re supporting our municipalities in unlocking more opportunities for home ownership and ensuring that every young family has a fair chance to build their future in Ontario. We’re supporting our municipalities by making sure that we are there so that they can build vibrant and sustainable communities.", "Municipalities are on the front lines of delivering local services, maintaining infrastructure and building our communities. They’re responsible for approving new housing projects, building and maintaining roads, providing essential water services and all the vital infrastructure that supports new housing development. They’re partners who help ensure that our communities thrive.", "Without strong and adequately supported municipalities, Ontario’s future cannot be realized. It’s crucial that we, as a government, support municipalities by providing the funding and tools they need to build more homes faster. By enabling them to tackle infrastructure challenges and reduce barriers to development, we can help ensure that new housing projects are developed where they are most needed and in a way that benefits all Ontarians.", "Supporting municipalities is not just about today; it is about building a future where home ownership remains a foundation of our province’s prosperity. It is also about creating vibrant communities where everyone has the opportunity to succeed and live the life they want for themselves and their families, ensuring that no one is left behind as our communities grow and prosper.", "Our government has recognized the vital role that municipalities play and has acted decisively to support them. Despite the claims from the opposition that the province is underfunding municipalities, the truth is that since 2018, provincial support to municipalities has grown by over 45%, with almost $10 billion provided in 2023 alone. This significant investment is designed to help municipalities build the infrastructure necessary to support new housing, deliver essential services and address emerging challenges to financial stability.", "For example, the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program represents a billion-dollar investment to help municipalities develop core infrastructure projects such as roads and water systems that are essential for new housing developments. By addressing these key infrastructure needs, we’re helping municipalities overcome one of the biggest obstacles to housing development: the lack of supporting infrastructure.", "This investment is not only about bricks and mortar; it’s about empowering our growing communities. It’s about ensuring the next generation has the infrastructure it needs to build new homes, support economic growth and create the kinds of neighbourhoods that families actually want to live in.", "In addition to the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program, we have quadrupled the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund to $825 million. This fund is vital for municipalities that need to develop, rehabilitate and expand drinking water, waste water and stormwater infrastructure to support new housing development. Access to clean water and reliable waste water systems is a fundamental requirement for any community, and we are ensuring that municipalities have the support they need to expand these critical services.", "We understand that infrastructure is the backbone of any growing community, and we’re committed to ensuring that municipalities have the tools to meet these challenges head-on. This commitment means building capacity in our communities to foster long-term growth and development.", "In addition to direct funding for infrastructure, we’re also helping municipalities build their planning and administrative capacities to manage growth effectively. By providing resources for technical training and capacity building, we ensure that municipalities can streamline their processes, make informed decisions and foster growth-friendly environment that attracts new investments.", "Speaker, our government knows that addressing housing also means helping those who are struggling the most. That’s why we have increased the homelessness prevention funding to municipalities by 40%, resulting in an annual investment of $700 million. This funding is crucial for municipalities that are facing increased challenges due to the rise in asylum seekers and refugee claimants as a result of failed federal Liberal policies.", "Many of these communities are dealing with greater demand for shelter and support services, which is why we are giving municipalities more support to address these challenges head-on. This increased funding helps municipalities provide emergency shelters, support services and long-term housing solutions for people who are at risk of homelessness, including newcomers to Ontario. And by increasing investments in homelessness prevention, we are not only helping those in immediate need, but we’re also helping to build stronger and more resilient communities.", "The rise in asylum seekers and refugee claimants has created unique challenges, particularly in urban centres, and municipalities are stepping up to provide housing and services to those new Ontarians. By increasing our homelessness prevention funding, we are acknowledging the unique challenges faced by municipalities and ensuring that they have the resources necessary to respond effectively. This is about more than just shelter. It’s about providing stability, hope and opportunity for those who have come to Ontario to seek a better life.", "But, Speaker, this isn’t something we can do alone. While our provincial government is doing its part, we continue to advocate strongly for fair and predictable support from the federal government. Ontario is home to 44% of all Canadian households in core housing need, yet our allocation of federal funding under the National Housing Strategy is only 38%. This discrepancy represents a significant shortfall in funding relative to our needs. Simply put, the federal government needs to pay its fair share. By advocating for equitable funding, we can ensure that Ontario municipalities have the resources they need to succeed.", "Despite the record investments by our provincial government, the federal government continues to underfund Ontario. Our municipalities are doing their best to address the housing needs in their communities, support newcomers and provide essential services, but we need proper federal support to achieve these goals. That’s why we will continue to call on the federal government to step up and provide the fair funding that Ontario deserves.", "But building more homes is not just about funding; it’s about also incentivizing municipalities to meet the ambitious housing targets. To that end, we have launched the Building Faster Fund, a $1.2-billion initiative over three years that rewards municipalities that meet or exceed their housing targets. Municipalities that achieve 80% or more of their annual target can access a portion of their allocation, while those that exceed their targets can receive additional funding as well.", "This funding ensures that municipalities are motivated to build housing faster, while also providing the necessary financial support to enable this growth. By linking funding to results, we are ensuring that investments we make lead to tangible outcomes: more homes, more opportunities and stronger communities. We’ve also set aside $120 million specifically for small, rural and northern communities that have not been assigned a housing target, recognizing the unique challenges faced by these areas.", "These communities play an essential role in our province, and we are committed to supporting their growth and development by addressing their unique infrastructure needs. Whether it’s ensuring that there are adequate roads, public utilities or essential services, we are here to support every corner of Ontario. These investments are about more than just numbers. They’re about people, about the families who call these communities home, about ensuring that everyone has access to opportunity, no matter where they live in this province.", "Furthermore, we recognize that meeting housing targets requires collaboration and innovation. We’re also supporting municipalities by providing planning resources, technical assistance and incentives to adopt best practices in housing development. By fostering collaboration among municipalities, developers and community organizations, we’re creating an environment that encourages innovation and efficiency in building new homes. This kind of co-operation ensures that municipalities are not alone in meeting their targets but have a network of support to help them succeed.", "1500", "We also understand that stable funding is essential for municipalities to plan effectively and deliver on their priorities. That is why, in 2024, we are providing $500 million through the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund—OMPF, as many people know it—to support small, northern and rural municipalities. The OMPF funding provides unconditional funding that allows municipalities to address their unique needs and deliver on their local priorities. For many municipalities, particularly those with limited property assessment bases, the OMPF represents a significant resource of revenue that helps them maintain essential services and infrastructure. These funds help create communities where people can live comfortably, access services and feel a sense of belonging.", "In addition to the OMPF funding, we have doubled the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund to nearly $2 billion over five years. This investment supports small, rural and northern municipalities in developing and maintaining essential infrastructure, ensuring that no community is left behind as we work to build more homes across Ontario. Infrastructure investments are about building bridges, literally and metaphorically. They are about connecting people, businesses and opportunities, ensuring that everyone has a fair chance at prosperity. With the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund, we’re putting our municipalities in the driver’s seat, ensuring that they have the funding they need to tackle infrastructure challenges and growth in their communities.", "We’re also supporting municipalities through programs that help with the maintenance and enhancement of existing infrastructure. Aging infrastructure is a challenge faced by many communities, and our investments are aimed at rehabilitating and upgrading key assets like roads, bridges and water systems. By focusing on both new development and the maintenance of existing assets, we are ensuring that municipalities have the comprehensive support they need to create sustainable and resilient communities.", "Municipalities have consistently identified infrastructure as one of the biggest obstacles to building more homes. To address this challenge, we have made record investments in local infrastructure funding to support our growing communities. For example, we’re investing nearly $380 million annually through the gas tax program to help municipalities operate and improve local transit. These investments are essential for creating the conditions in which new housing developments can thrive, providing residents with access to services and other amenities they need. Reliable transit is an essential component of a thriving community. By investing in transit, we’re not only creating homes but also ensuring that residents have the means to move around efficiently and comfortably.", "Furthermore, through the Canada Community-Building Fund, formerly known as the federal Gas Tax Fund, we’re providing nearly $895 million in 2024-25 to support local infrastructure projects across Ontario. These funds are being used to improve public transit, roads, bridges and waste water systems—all critical components of well-functioning and growing communities.", "Whether it’s building new roads, repairing old bridges or expanding transit options, we’re committed to providing the infrastructure needed to support Ontario’s growth. And these projects are about building a future where our children and grandchildren have access to opportunities and a higher quality of life.", "In addition to these investments, we’re also focusing on infrastructure initiatives that support environmental sustainability. By investing in energy-efficient public transit, stormwater management systems and renewable energy projects, we are helping municipalities reduce their environmental impact while fostering economic growth. Building sustainable communities is not just about meeting today’s needs; it’s about planning for a future where economic prosperity goes hand in hand with economic stewardship.", "Speaker, as we reflect on the importance of municipalities, it’s also crucial to remember the past. In the 1990s, under the NDP government led by Bob Rae, municipalities were subjected to significant downloading from the costs of the provincial government. Essential services and responsibilities that were previously funded by the province were suddenly off-loaded onto municipalities without adequate funding. This meant that municipalities had to bear the burden of these additional costs, leading to increased pressures on their local property tax base. For instance, property assessment services were cut, and municipalities were left to make up the difference. While the members opposite might not take my word for it, maybe they’ll listen to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, who estimate that municipalities need to collect an extra $1.2 billion from property tax ratepayers to cover these downloaded responsibilities.", "I know the members opposite today have talked about Premier Mike Harris and his downloads. What they refuse to acknowledge is that we actually uploaded one big expense during that reform: education. When we brought that up, it was a significant cost to our municipalities, and we took that on in the 1990s.", "In my own riding, since 2022, when I had the pleasure to be elected and serve the good people of Perth–Wellington in this place, I am pleased to report to this House that, working with our municipal partners and many others locally, I have helped attract from our provincial government $161 million in new investment to Perth–Wellington alone. Our government will continue to work with our municipal partners to ensure that we’re making the investments that they are asking us to make: those investments in the roads, the bridges, the stormwater and waste water improvements, ensuring that we’re providing that funding.", "The greatest example of us stepping up to support our municipal partners is the housing-enabling waste water infrastructure fund. We went to the federal government and said, “We’re willing to do a 30%, 30% and 30% infrastructure agreement like has existed in the past. We are fine to match your dollars.” But the federal government refused to come to the table. We are now funding 70% of the waste water infrastructure while the municipality has 20% of those costs.", "We’ll continue to stand with our municipal partners. We’re investing $3 billion in that project alone, while the federal government is investing $6 billion across the entire country, and some of that is literally just to do studies, not to get anything in the ground and nothing built. Our government stands with our municipalities that want to get things built, and we’ll continue to do that going forward." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Catherine Fife", "text": [ "Oh, my goodness, for the love of humanity, it’s so painful in this House this afternoon. Honestly, the revisionism is really quite something.", "The reason we brought forward this motion, the new deal for municipalities, is because they have asked us for it because they are actually at a tipping point. Don’t take my word for it.", "Kitchener mayor Berry Vrbanovic on the Mike Farwell Show: “The model of funding has remained virtually unchanged since 1867 and simply isn’t keeping up with the modern issues facing communities. Revenues need to be linked to national population and economic growth. There needs to be diverse, adequate and predictable sources of revenue that increase the autonomy and predictability for municipalities to deal with challenges.” This was June 10, 2024.", "Burlington mayor and chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors, Marianne Meed Ward: “The deal that we have was built 100 years ago, when really the challenges that municipalities faced were potholes and maybe some roads … now we are dealing with mental health, with addictions, with homelessness”—and, of course, the housing crisis. “None of those issues were contemplated 100 years ago.” This is just from March 24, 2024.", "Ontario’s Big City Mayors have created a new deal for the city of Toronto and for the city of Ottawa. So at some point, you’ve recognized that this funding model is insufficient to meet the needs of our communities in 2024.", "“Ontario’s Big City Mayors renew our call for the province to sit down with municipalities to review the provincial-municipal fiscal framework which hasn’t been done for more than 15 years. Our cities and taxpayers deserve a change in how tax dollars are allocated between governments to make things more efficient and fairer for everyone.”", "“We want to work together to create a new deal.”", "This is from the 444 municipalities across this province literally begging this government to come to the table with some rational engagement on these issues.", "Finally, Catherine McKenney from this morning: She says, “Municipalities need help to fill that gap. We take in something like 10% of every tax dollar but we’re responsible for 17% to 18% of all expenditures. It just cannot continue.”", "1510", "Do the right thing. Support the motion, and let’s work in partnership with our cities across this great province." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens", "text": [ "I rise today in strong support of this motion which calls for a renewed partnership between the government of Ontario and our municipalities—a partnership where provincial responsibilities are rightfully re-uploaded to the province.", "Municipalities, including my riding of St. Catharines, are at a breaking point. We face an affordable housing crisis, with wait-lists up to 12 years long in Niagara, alongside a visible homelessness crisis.", "Meanwhile, St. Catharines residents saw a 10.5% property tax increase in 2023, an extra $400 a year for the average household. For families, especially seniors on fixed incomes, this is unaffordable. These hikes are not the fault of the municipality. They are the results of the province downloading billions in responsibilities for public health, housing, transit, infrastructure onto local governments with far fewer resources. Years of provincial neglect have left municipalities struggling to manage problems they didn’t create. Property taxes cannot be the solution to filling these gaps.", "It is the province’s duty to fund and manage critical services like housing and public health. By re-uploading these responsibilities, we can ease the burden on municipalities, allowing them to focus on delivering local solutions to local challenges. The province must address homelessness and the mental health crisis at a systemic level, while empowering municipalities to continue their community-focused work. This requires funding based on need, not political favour.", "Let us say no to unsustainable property tax hikes and yes to fairness for families, seniors and vulnerable populations.", "Let us support this motion, rebuild a strong partnership with our municipalities, and show our communities they are not alone in addressing years and years of provincial neglect." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "The member from London North Centre." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Terence Kernaghan", "text": [ "It’s an honour for me to rise today in support of our official opposition motion for a new deal, a fair deal, for municipalities.", "In our communities across the province, we’ve seen the impacts of provincial downloading, and this government has taken it to the nth degree. People are not getting what they pay for from this government, with their reckless, feckless, spendthrift ways. AMO said that $4 billion has been downloaded onto municipalities because of their cuts. We see this coming through in property taxes.", "In the London area, property taxes are set to go up 30% because of this government. We’ve seen cuts to arts funding. We’ve seen cuts to community programs. Currently, dozens of London’s non-profits across the community—in health care, education, housing, children’s services, arts and culture, and a range of social services—are begging the city to not cut back on their funding. Their letter states: “In recent years, our sector has seen an unprecedented increase in demand for services, paired with significant funding challenges. Non-profits are experiencing a heightened need for mental health services, affordable housing, accessible recreational opportunities, and inclusive community spaces.”", "We have seen need going up. And yet, we’ve seen funding from this government going down. And where is it going? It’s going overseas, into foreign bank accounts. It’s going to the movement of Ontario Place, to benefit wealthy insiders. It’s going to Therme, an Austrian spa. It’s going to the 407 owners, who are also multinational, because this government isn’t even collecting on its debts.", "The direct implication of the government downloading these programs is that there are these programs which are suffering. People are struggling to find housing. People are struggling with the high cost of living.", "The London Community Foundation, in their Vital Signs report, indicated that one in six households in London struggles with food insecurity. The London Food Bank served a record-breaking 454,750 people in 2023-24. That’s an increase of almost 100,000 people in comparison to the previous year. The food bank is now supporting 6,000 families per month.", "There are 7,000 London families on the affordable housing wait-list. That is on this government. Their inability to provide and build affordable housing and their inability to provide mental health supports and addiction programs have exacerbated all of the crises we see. Doug Ford has only been successful at creating encampments across the province. Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services have a $2.6 million short fall and there are so many more, whether Middlesex-London Health Unit and more. Cuts, cuts, cuts—reverse those cuts, please." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "I recognize the member from Thunder Bay–Superior North." ] }, { "speaker": "MPP Lise Vaugeois", "text": [ "I spoke this morning about a state of emergency in Ginoogaming First Nation, but there’s also a state of emergency in the town of Schreiber. That state of emergency has been there since August 1.", "I heard a lot of talk about flexibility and there’s so much money to help northern ridings, but the reality is that every dollar Schreiber is getting is completely subscribed until 2026 because the waste water plant is falling to pieces. There’s no money there. Most money is tied to building new housing, but guess what? Terrace Bay in Schreiber lost the mill—missing in action from this government. They can’t build new housing, but they have very old infrastructure and they need funding to support that infrastructure.", "You might say, “Well, we increased funding to the OMPF fund.” AMO is very aware that the Liberals cut this fund from $650 million in 2010 to $500 million. There has been no increase whatsoever until this year, so we are getting a little bit of an inflationary bump. But that’s not going to help the community of Schreiber or the other northern communities that cannot afford to build housing but have infrastructure needs.", "One last thing I would like to say in my time is that I see moral panic on the other side whenever we talk about co-op housing. I’d like you to say that to the people of Thunder Bay who have fantastic co-op housing that’s been there for a long time. We want to build more and the NDP will give us the means to do that and affordable loans so that people like the seniors’ organization Suomi Koti can actually build what they’ve been trying to do for years. It’s about time that we had a government that actually could adapt to local circumstances. I heard something about one size fits all. Well, guess what? No grants that are out there are supporting people in my small northern communities." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "I recognize the member for Nickel Belt." ] }, { "speaker": "MmeFrance Gélinas", "text": [ "It’s my pleasure to say a few words about the new deal for municipalities. We all agree that health care is the biggest responsibility of a provincial government. That’s why we allocate $78 billion of the budget to it. Yet the mayor of Sudbury, Paul Lefebvre, invited the MPP for Sudbury and me to a meeting where he went through all of the investment that the city has to do in health care, starting with the ACT team, the assertive community treatment team. Did you know—I didn’t know—that the municipality actually pays the hospital to deliver that service because the provincial government refuses to fund them? We have 200 people living in encampments in Sudbury, in Nickel Belt, and 500 people homeless. Yet this government refuses to take responsibility and fund them.", "The municipality also invested tens of millions of dollars to build a new 40-unit specifically for people who are hard to house—homeless people with severe mental health, addiction and other problems. The federal government contributed, the municipal government contributed. They asked for the provincial government to do what they are supposed to do—fund health care—and so far it’s dead silence. Same thing with our consumption and treatment site. It was the municipality of Sudbury who funded it for a full year because every second or third day a person dies of an overdose in Sudbury—that includes my nephew and two of my friends. That’s every single week, yet the government is not taking responsibility.", "We need a new deal for our municipalities. They are asking for it. What is this government waiting for?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Miss Monique Taylor", "text": [ "It’s very timely today to receive this in my email from the city of Hamilton to AMO, as well as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. It’s a resolution, and it says: “Whereas in 2024 the city of Hamilton is investing $185.9 million into housing and homelessness solutions, 67% funded directly by municipal taxpayers.”", "I just want to remind the members on the other side, all that you download out of the provincial coffers goes onto our provincial taxpayers—only one taxpayer, as you continue to say.", "It goes on further, “Whereas Ontario cities have been left to deal with the crisis of housing, homelessness, mental health and addictions without adequate resources from upper levels of government;", "“Whereas the government of Canada has announced a $250-million funding initiative to address the urgent issue of encampments and unsheltered homelessness with the intention of a 50-50 cost-sharing agreement with provincial governments;", "“Whereas the government of Canada will work directly with municipalities if necessary, but without the involvement of the province of Ontario, Ontario municipalities will receive half of the potential funding available, while additional costs continue to be downloaded to municipal taxpayers;", "“Whereas federal discussions with the province of Ontario have not led to meaningful progress on a cost-sharing funding agreement to date;", "“Whereas, the provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing has publicly announced an upcoming meeting with the federal Minister of Housing to take place the week of” the 28th—we have fingers crossed, let me tell you—“and;", "“Whereas mental health care, addiction treatment and housing are the responsibility of the province of Ontario.", "“Therefore, be it resolved”—and I’m just going to shorten this to:", "“That the mayor, on behalf of the city of Hamilton request that the province of Ontario re-engage with the government of Canada to ensure that Ontario municipalities have access to fully funded support towards encampments and unsheltered homelessness initiatives;", "“That city of Hamilton be directed to work with our federal partners to maximize this opportunity....”", "This is coming directly from a municipality that is working so hard to ensure that we are tackling our homeless issue. They have created a full plan to work towards helping homelessness. Currently, homelessness is costing the city of Hamilton quite a lot. We have a lot of encampments that are maintained—some by city staff, others by independent contractors—that all cost the city of Hamilton taxpayers the same dollars that this government refuses to pay.", "The city of Hamilton is actually looking at a 6.9% increase to the taxpayer. Last year, it was a 5.8% increase, which has continued downloading from this province. It’s not fair. The people of Hamilton tell me clearly that the cost of living is too high. We hear it from the government themselves that the cost of living is high, but as long as they can continue to download on to the single taxpayer, to the residents who are paying the tax rate, this cost of living will continue to increase.", "The government needs to support this initiative and ensure that municipalities are getting what they ask for. Re-upload the decades that Harris started and other governments have continued to do. Municipalities can no longer take it. People are buried in their property taxes, as well as every other tax. It’s time to do the right thing. Ensure that you upload your responsibilities and tackle the homelessness.", "I wasn’t even able to address public health and everything else that goes with it. It’s their responsibility to deal with. They need to ensure that the people of this province are able to live in healthy homes in healthy communities. Without their help ensuring that funding is there, you’re continuing to leave the taxpayer behind." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "Pursuant to standing order 45(b)(v), the time allocated for opposition day motion number 3 has expired.", "MPP Stiles has moved opposition day motion number 3. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry?", "All those in favour of the motion will please say “aye.”", "All those opposed to the motion will please say “nay.”", "In my opinion, the nays have it.", "Call in the members. There will be a 10-minute bell.", "The division bells rang from 1524 to 1534." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "MPP Stiles has moved opposition motion number 3. All those in favour of the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "All those opposed to the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk." ] }, { "speaker": "The Clerk of the Assembly (Mr. Trevor Day)", "text": [ "The ayes are 29; the nays are 65." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "I declare the motion lost.", "Motion negatived." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "I’ll give members a minute to exit the chambers before proceeding.", "Orders of the day? I recognize the member from Essex." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Anthony Leardi", "text": [ "No further business." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Bhutila Karpoche)", "text": [ "There being no further business, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.", "The House adjourned at 1538.", "", "", "" ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I beg to inform the House that in name of His Majesty the King, Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor has been pleased to assent to a certain bill in her office." ] }, { "speaker": "The Clerk-at-the-Table (Ms. Julia Douglas)", "text": [ "The following is the title of the bill to which Her Honour did assent:", "An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact and amend various statutes / Loi visant à mettre en oeuvre les mesures budgétaires et à édicter et à modifier diverses lois." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Anthony Leardi", "text": [ "Point of order, Speaker." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Point of order, the member for Essex." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Anthony Leardi", "text": [ "I seek unanimous consent that, notwithstanding any standing order or special order of the House, the order for second reading of Bill 220, An Act to amend the Election Finances Act be immediately called and that 30 minutes be allotted to debate with 10 minutes for members of His Majesty’s government, 10 minutes for members of His Majesty’s loyal opposition and 10 minutes for the independent members as a group; and", "That, at the end of this time, the Speaker shall interrupt the proceedings and shall put every question necessary to dispose of the second reading stage of Bill 220 without further debate or amendment; and", "That, upon receiving second reading, the bill shall be ordered for third reading, which order shall immediately be called; and", "That the Speaker shall immediately put the question on the motion for third reading without debate or amendment; and", "That the votes on second and third reading of the bill shall not be deferred; and", "That, if a recorded division is requested on the second or third reading vote on the bill, the division bells shall be limited to five minutes." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Mr. Leardi is seeking the unanimous consent of the House that, notwithstanding any standing order or special order of the House, the order for second reading of Bill 220, An Act to amend the Election Finances Act be immediately called and that 30 minutes be allotted to debate with 10 minutes for members of His Majesty’s government, 10 minutes for members of His Majesty’s loyal opposition and 10 minutes for the independent members as a group; and", "That, at the end of this time, the Speaker shall interrupt the proceedings and shall put every question necessary to dispose of the second reading stage of Bill 220 without further debate or amendment; and", "That, upon receiving second reading, the bill shall be ordered for third reading, which order shall immediately be called; and", "That the Speaker shall immediately put the question on the motion for third reading without debate or amendment; and", "That the votes on second and third reading of the bill shall not be deferred; and", "That, if a recorded division is requested on the second or third reading vote on the bill, the division bells shall be limited to five minutes.", "Agreed? Agreed." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Would the minister care to lead off the debate." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Doug Downey", "text": [ "I want to start by saying I’ve had the absolute privilege over the last several decades to knock on doors, not just in Ontario and all corners of Ontario—rural and urban and otherwise—but also across the country, whether it be Nova Scotia or New Brunswick or Newfoundland—Mount Pearl, to be exact—and other places across the country as far west as BC.", "There is a theme when you knock on doors. People are generally receptive. You expect that there might be hostility at the doors during elections; that is not actually the truth. People are receptive and they do want to hear from you. They want to hear what you have to offer as a party for your candidate. I find that when people come door-knocking for the first time, volunteers come and they’re nervous. What’s going to happen? Well, what’s going to happen is you’re going to talk to your neighbours. You’re going to talk to your neighbours and your friends and other people that you know.", "I’ll tell you, Mr. Speaker, I love door-knocking, but there’s one than stands out in my mind, in 2018. It was up Highway 11, a fairly busy space, so you have to drive door-to-door. I went up to this house, and I can visualize it even now: A young mom came to the door and she had four kids. There was one standing beside her, one on the hip, one on the leg and one behind the gate at the top of the stairs. The lady said to me, “I don’t vote.” I said, “Why don’t you vote?” She said, “Because my vote doesn’t matter. Nobody wants to hear what I have to say.” I said, “I’m standing in your doorway because I want to hear what you have to say.” I won’t drag you through the whole conversation, Mr. Speaker. I don’t know how she voted. But I do know this: She had an impact in two ways.", "I ran into her later at a shopping mall. She saw me; I wouldn’t have recognized her, to be honest. She came up to me and she said, “I voted.” I went, “That made my day.” So not only did she have an impact by voting—and I don’t know for who; I didn’t ask her. I probably should have. I’m a bad politician that way sometimes. But she also had an impact because her vote went to support whoever she voted for, with a small subsidy, with a small additional level of support that would play out over the next four years. That’s not to be underestimated.", "I ran into another fellow, also in 2018. He said, “I’ve never voted in my life.” I said, “Well, how old are you?” He was 38. I said, “Why don’t you vote?” He said, “I just never have. I just never got around to it.” You can tell the punch line: I ran into him later—I did recognize him; he was about 6 foot 4 and a little more distinct. Well, he did vote for me, because he told me that, so that subsidy, of course, played out as well. It’s a way for some people to make their vote matter, even if they don’t know that it matters, and every vote does matter.", "That’s another thing, “My vote doesn’t matter.” It does matter. I can tell you, if you ask former Premier Ernie Eves, in the race where he won by six votes, he’ll tell you every vote matters. And I can tell you, everybody who ran in a close election knows every single vote matters—not just in the ballot box in this case, but to help support a healthy democracy, to help support exactly what we’re doing here.", "I’ll tell you, Mr. Speaker, I don’t have an issue with having my ideas debated. I have confidence in my issues. I have confidence in my positions. I know the other parties do too, and the stronger the opposition is—the stronger all the oppositions are—the stronger we will be, because we need to have a good strong democratic debate, not just here, but at the doors and in our communities. If we’re not doing that, we’re not at our best.", "I can tell you, from my practice when I was doing corporate work and real estate work, if I had a sloppy lawyer on the other side, it would often make a mess of the file. But if I had a strong lawyer, somebody who was experienced and knew what they were doing, we could get down to business and find out the two things that actually need to be negotiated sorted out pretty quickly, and it was better for everybody.", "0910", "Similarly, when we have a strong opposition, when we have strong people testing our ideas, if we don’t have confidence in our ideas, then that’s a challenge. But I do have confidence in the things that we do, and I’m happy to stand up and have that debate. But we need a strong institution, and I think this small amendment of time will contribute to that in some small way.", "The other piece about “My vote doesn’t matter:” When I run into somebody in a riding, if I’m helping somebody—we all know the ridings that are likely to go one way or likely to go another. They have been that way forever. Now, it is not a total lock. MPP Dowie proved that point—that, after 95 years, you can make change, absolutely. The bad news for the opposition here today is that there’s more of that to come.", "However, there are perceptions in the ridings that a certain race will go a certain way, so the other parties that would receive support from constituents say, “What’s the point in voting? It’s going go that way.” Well, I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, I had an experience—again, I’m speaking from my own experience in the riding. It happened to be a supporter of the Green Party, who said, “Look, I don’t know if I’m going to vote. If I voted, I’d vote for the Green Party.” They don’t feel like it matters. But if they vote for the Green Party, that has an impact in building up the opposition. It helps Mr. Schreiner and others because it contributes to the democracy, and it helps with our development of ideas, the testing of ideas, the exchange of ideas. So that’s very much what this is about, making sure that we’re making every vote matter in one way or another.", "We want people to vote. We want voter turnout to move up. We always want more voter turnout. We could do what other jurisdictions do; we could say, “You have to vote, or you will be penalized.” That actually happens in some jurisdictions. That’s not the route that we’ve taken, but we’ve said we will recognize your vote regardless of who you vote for, for participating in this democratic system that none of us here take for granted.", "There are occasions where somebody comes to me and they’ve got the silver-bullet idea, and it’s going to fix everything and they’re going to do everything. I say to them, “Then get involved with whoever it is that you think is going to advance that interest and let’s have that debate.” But most people won’t do that. Most people are busy taking their kids to hockey and dance and any number of things, and they don’t have time or they don’t have the resources to get involved. Well, this is an expression of that interest. This is an expression of their support and their interest in democracy and making things happen.", "We watch elections. We’re watching Nova Scotia right now to see how that goes. I wish my friend, the leader, good luck in that. I think Tim will do well, but it’s elections and you just never know.", "Here’s the thing: Regardless of where elections go, it needs to be a debate amongst the parties, it needs to be a debate among the people actually knocking on the doors putting their name on a ballot and making things happen, and not properly resourced—whether it be private companies, special interest groups, whatever it is. We can’t allow them to drown out the real ideas of the real people knocking on real doors talking to their neighbours and friends. That is core to what we’re doing. We have to continue to support our system, to have this robust debate.", "I have to say: Who knows when elections are going to come? Nobody here knows." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Jennifer K. French", "text": [ "Probably you do." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Doug Downey", "text": [ "Somebody’s pointing and saying, “Probably you do.” Every time I think I know what’s going to happen in politics, something else happens. That was my operating assumption when I woke up this morning, and it will continue until the end of the day.", "We’re doing great things in this Legislature. We’re building, we’re attracting talent, we’re attracting investment, we’re growing the economy, we’re supporting the most vulnerable in our community. We all agree on those things; we just disagree on how you do it.", "I want to continue to have that vigorous dialogue to make sure that we’re having vigorous debate and exchange of ideas. There are occasions where ideas come out of a place you never knew that they might, but they need to be debated in here and they need to be debated at the doors. All of that business takes resources. The small extension of time to continue the status quo is something that I think is healthy for our debate and for our system.", "I look forward to continuing to work with the other members in the Legislature to have that vigorous debate and to get our collective voices out and let the best ideas win. Let’s do it at the doors, but that takes resources and I look forward to hearing from the other parties on their perspective. Thank you. Merci. Meegwetch." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Patrice Barnes)", "text": [ "Further debate?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Vanthof", "text": [ "It’s always an honour to be able to stand in the House, and today, on behalf of the official opposition, give our remarks on Bill 220—the amendment to the Election Finances Act.", "First off, I would like to thank the government House leader and House leader’s office and the other House leaders of the other parties. I think this bill and the speed at which it’s going shows that when there is an issue that we can all work together on on behalf of the people of Ontario, we can. There are issues in this House that we philosophically completely disagree on and we’ll fight, in my language, till the cows come home. But on things that are good—that we all agree are good for the people of Ontario, we can work together. This bill, this amendment is an example of that. I listened very intently to the Attorney General and agreed with almost everything he said.", "What’s really important about our democratic system is that everyone can have a voice in that system. We have always, in the NDP, been in favour of public financing of the election process, as the Chief Electoral Officer initially suggested when the first version of this bill was brought in because the other side is—let’s be frank, there are people in society, and they should have a voice, who have the financial wherewithal to donate, to help finance political activities. I’m not opposed to that, but there are large sectors of society who don’t have that wherewithal, and everyone’s voice should be heard.", "We don’t all agree in this chamber, often we don’t, but everyone’s voice is worthy to be heard. There isn’t a day in this chamber that I don’t learn something and that makes us all valuable. But the people we represent also need to be able to have that voice. Public financing gives everyone who votes a voice because your vote is attached to a small sum of money that goes to the party for which you share a belief. As a result, that party can share that belief during the election campaign and share that belief in this House, whether it’s as a government or opposition or independent or third party. That is incredibly important.", "Make no mistake, in our modern world, elections—for a party to tell people what they believe could be done to improve the province or change things in the province, it costs money. Let’s make no mistake about it. I agree with the Attorney General that there’s nothing like knocking on a door, but even knocking on doors takes finances to get to that door, to get the signs in front of those doors, to put ads. It takes money. If that money only comes from those who can afford to donate to the political system, then perhaps—and I’m not saying it always happens—those views are amplified and the whole democratic system loses as a result.", "0920", "This was an easy subject for us to agree to. We have always been in favour of public financing for the electoral system—will always be in favour. Quite frankly, we were a bit surprised that this issue came up, because, at points, the government has actively campaigned against it, so it’s also an example that people can change their minds, and that’s not a bad thing. That’s actually one of the things that this House is about too. We don’t often change each other’s minds, let’s admit it. But in this case, someone has, for the better.", "I agreed wholeheartedly with what the Attorney General said—just the one point about how they’re going to form the next government, I might not agree with that. But we all do knock on doors, we talk to people, we put forward our views and we believe in our views. If I didn’t believe in what the New Democratic Party stands for, I wouldn’t be standing here, because the people wouldn’t have voted for me based on those views. Because I think one thing that people can tell pretty quickly is who believes what they’re saying and who doesn’t.", "Despite the fact that I disagree with many of the things the government believes, a lot of people voted for the government in the last election, and might not in the next election—", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Vanthof", "text": [ "See, obviously the government doesn’t agree with me on that, and that’s fine." ] }, { "speaker": "Interjection", "text": [ "You know they’re listening." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Vanthof", "text": [ "They are listening.", "That’s also the great thing about being able to stand in this House and express the views of the people of Timiskaming–Cochrane, but, in this case, the views of the official opposition and most of the people of the province who elected the official opposition. Often, the NDP pushes issues—I’ll give an example: doubling ODSP, because people now are in legislated poverty. When your only income is ODSP, you know what? You don’t have any money left over to donate to the political process. You don’t. Regardless if we have differing views about whether it’s enough or not, there is not enough to donate to a political party because you’re worried about your rent, whether you’ll have enough to eat. But those people also have as much right to a voice in this House as someone who has a big business, and I don’t begrudge either. Public financing goes part of the way to giving everyone who votes a voice, and everyone who votes—the more people we can get to vote, the bigger the voice and the stronger democracy.", "I hope everyone shares this with me: One of the things I love to do the most, probably more than door-knocking, is going to schools and talking to students about democracy, and that question always comes up, “Well, does it matter if I vote?” My take is a bit different. I say, “Well, it matters if you don’t,” because—this might not be popular, what I’m about to say, but political parties don’t know how you vote, and that’s a great thing, but they can keep track of what demographics vote, and, quite frankly, if a demographic tends not to vote, sometimes policy isn’t aimed at that demographic. So the more people we can get to vote, the better it is.", "Single moms aren’t the highest voters, because they’ve got a lot going on. But if that single mom knows that if she votes, her voice adds to whichever political persuasion she is, that’s a step forward in democracy. This is an extension of a bill that provided that step. This bill was about to end, and together we have agreed to continue this practice. For that, we are very supportive and I’m very thankful that I’ve had this opportunity to express our views." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Patrice Barnes)", "text": [ "Further debate." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Fraser", "text": [ "I’ll be sharing my time, in the spirit of this morning, equally with my colleague from Guelph. I just want to say we’ll be supporting this measure. The per-vote subsidy, we believe, is a very democratic way of ensuring that we can fund elections. There should be a balance between that and the limits that we put on giving to our particular parties, to try to get that right. It’s a very democratic way of doing things. Everybody gets shares equally, depending how many votes that they have.", "There are some inequalities in this system. That’s the way it is; I’m not saying that has to change. You know, we got more votes than the NDP in the last election, but we’re smaller over here. But with this, here’s what will happen: We’re actually going to get a little bit more money than them, because more people voted for us—not a lot—and that’s a good thing. That means those votes—" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Vanthof", "text": [ "We’re going to try to change that." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. John Fraser", "text": [ "You’re going to try to change that? Have at ’er, buddy. We’re going to try to change that as well.", "I like to say this, and this is a good morning because we’re all agreeing on this: I share more in common with all of you than the differences that we have. The differences that we have are bigger, but they’re not deal-breakers, folks. We’re all in this thing together and doing this subsidy the way we’re doing it this morning is equal and fair, and so we’ll be supporting it.", "I’m very happy to have had the patience of my colleagues to my right—or to my left, or somewhere in between—for the little poke that I took at them. Hopefully, we can take a bigger poke at you next time.", "Look, this is all fuelling speculation about an early election. I think when you call an election early, you have to have a reason and there has to be a ballot question. The question on everyone’s minds is, what’s the ballot question going to be? The ballot question will be: Is your life any better now than it was six years ago? Is your health care system any better than it was six years ago? Do more people or less people have a family doctor? Are wait times shorter for surgeries and diagnostics? Are we funding take-home cancer drugs? Is your health care system better? I think that that’s going to be the ballot question in the next election, whenever that’s called. That’s what I hear at the door. That’s what I see in terms of the government records. Do you think your health care system is any better six years later, objectively? That’s going to be the ballot question.", "When 2.5 million Ontarians don’t have a family doctor, and that number is going to grow to 4.4 million in 2026, that’s a serious issue. That issue is important, primary care, because you need to stay healthy and it’s pretty hard to without access to primary care. When you’re not healthy, you need to know that you’re not healthy. That’s hard when you don’t have primary care. You have to go somewhere else, like a walk-in clinic or an emergency room. We’ve heard the Premier talk about emergency rooms and how not to take little Johnny if he’s got a cut, but if he needs stitches, you better take him.", "That’s the question of the day. Since we’re talking about elections, I don’t know when it’s going to be. People on the other side probably know when it’s going to be. But when we have an election, in which the per-vote subsidy will be in effect, the ballot question in that election is, is your health care system better than it was six years ago? Is it working for you better than it did six years ago? Is your family getting what they need? That will be the ballot question. That will be the question that people ask us at the doors, because they already are.", "0930", "I don’t want to give my colleague from Guelph too much time, so I’m going to count it down right to five, because we’re talking about being equal and sharing here, and if I give him extra, it might be like it’s a bias of some sort. So it’s coming up, Mike. I’m going to give you six seconds. There we go." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Patrice Barnes)", "text": [ "The member from Guelph." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Mike Schreiner", "text": [ "I’m honoured to speak in favour of Bill 220. I appreciate the extra five seconds that the member from Ottawa South provided.", "Speaker, one of the main reasons I got involved in politics was to improve and strengthen our democracy. And one of the reasons I chose to get involved with the Ontario Green Party is that it was a party that talked about getting big money out of politics and talked about reforming our democracy by bringing in proportional representation so the composition of the Legislature would reflect the democratic will of the people.", "One of the reasons I’ve always supported public-based per-vote funding is because it shifts the funding and power from large donors and special interest groups to voters and the people. I think that is more democratic, and I think we only have to look south of the border to see the corrosive effects that big money has in politics. I am so grateful in Canada that we don’t have elections dominated by billionaires and millionaires because we have spending limits and campaign donation limit systems in place, unlike what the US has.", "But I also want to say that I listened to the radio this morning, on one of the radio shows where I’m on one of the panels, and the panellists were speaking negatively about this particular bill. And I want to remind those folks, I want to remind the public listening today that prior to per-vote funding in Ontario, we had a pay-to-play system that essentially meant that the party of the day was assigning funding targets to their ministers in particular. You had big-ticket events where people were forced to pay large sums of money to be able to have access to people in government. I remember being the leader of a non-profit organization, and one of the things we struggled with was, should we attend these fundraisers? Was it even the right thing to spend money on? But how else were we going to get access to government unless we did that?", "So I just want to say I’m grateful—I’ll be critical, but I’m also grateful—that the Premier of the day, Kathleen Wynne, recognized that that system was wrong. I want to give her credit for actually calling me into her office and helping rewrite our fundraising laws in Ontario.", "When I went into her office, I said that there are three principles that should apply. First of all, we should eliminate corporate and union donations to political parties in this province because people should donate to politics, and politicians serve people, not special interests or corporate interests. The second thing I said is we have to dramatically lower donation limits to create an even playing field for voters across the province. The third thing I suggested is that we have public per-vote funding so that everybody in this province who votes has an opportunity to direct their donation to the party they choose.", "Like the Attorney General, I’ve knocked on many doors over the years and had many people tell me, “My vote doesn’t count.” I think if we change our electoral system, we can help solve that problem. But at the very least, having public funding provides an answer to say, yes, your vote does count; at the very least, you’re able to direct a donation to the political party you support.", "To Premier Wynne’s credit, she brought in those changes. I want to say that it heartens me to hear all parties saying they’re going to support this legislation. I want to thank the government for bringing it forward, but I also want to say there needs to be a balance. I believe that political parties should fundraise. I think fundraising should be a part of our democratic system. It’s an opportunity for people to make a contribution to the party they support.", "But I also want to say, when this government first took office, donation limits were $1,200. You could give $1,200 to a candidate, $1,200 to a riding association and $1,200 to a political party, for a total of $3,600. They changed that and raised it to $1,650, which, if you do across all three, is a total of $4,960.", "Today they’ve raised it to $3,375, meaning that a single individual can donate over $10,000 to a political party, directing it to a candidate, a riding association and the central party. I think that balance is off. I think that balance is allowing big money to have a disproportionate impact in our politics. I think that’s bad for democracy, and I would encourage the government to rebalance the way donation limits are set." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Patrice Barnes)", "text": [ "Pursuant to the order of the House passed earlier today, I’m now required to put the question.", "Mr. Downey has moved second reading of Bill 220, An Act to amend the Election Finances Act.", "Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.", "Second reading agreed to." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Patrice Barnes)", "text": [ "Pursuant to the order of the House passed earlier today, this bill is ordered for third reading." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Patrice Barnes)", "text": [ "Pursuant to the order of the House passed earlier today, I am now required to put the question.", "Mr. Downey has moved third reading of Bill 220, An Act to amend the Election Finances Act.", "It is the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.", "Be it resolved that the bill do now pass and be entitled as in the motion.", "Third reading agreed to." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Patrice Barnes)", "text": [ "Orders of the day? I recognize the Minister of Red Tape Reduction." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Mike Harris", "text": [ "No further business this morning." ] }, { "speaker": "The Acting Speaker (Ms. Patrice Barnes)", "text": [ "There being no further business, this House stands in recess until 10:15.", "The House recessed from 0938 to 1015." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Deepak Anand", "text": [ "“Believing in yourself is extremely important ... Life is difficult and comes with its challenges, some small and some very big. But in order to overcome them ... we must believe we can.”", "These inspiring words came from the honourable Dr. Asha Seth, Canada’s first South Asian Canadian female senator. Thank you so much.", "With over 45 years of experience as a gynecologist, she has served families across Canada, delivering thousands of babies during her career. This past Family Day, Dr. Seth joined the residents of Mississauga–Malton for paint night where a resident recognized her as the doctor who delivered her baby nearly 40 years back. It was very heartwarming to see the deep connections she has created within our community.", "Dr. Seth’s passion for eye health has been transformative. Serving as the national fundraising chair and a national board director for CNIB, she has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the critical importance of eye care and launched May as national Vision Health Month.", "Dr. Seth is currently working on ensuring every child gets comprehensive eye testing at an early stage. With her loving husband Dr. Arun Seth and two accomplished daughters Angie and Dr. Anila her contributions remind us that people are bigger than their size and can have generational impacts.", "Thank you, Dr. Asha Seth, for being an inspiration to the women in Mississauga–Malton and across Ontario. We pray for your health and well-being so that you can keep giving back to the community. Thank you, Dr. Asha Seth." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Terence Kernaghan", "text": [ "I rise today to remember the life and light of Breanna Broadfoot. Breanna was a young woman of 17 whose life was cut short by intimate partner violence. Breanna sought help. The accused was ordered by the court not to contact her. The criminal justice system needs to better protect women like Breanna.", "Breanna’s family, Jess, Brett and brother Lucas, have turned unthinkable pain and grief into action. Lucas is mature beyond his years and is a strong voice for young women, but it should never be this way.", "The city of London declared IPV an epidemic last year, joining AMO and over 100 municipalities across the province.", "I also think of Cheryl Sheldon, turned away from one shelter—it was full—and even though she was directed to an open bed at another shelter, she never made it there. Her life was taken, lost to IPV.", "Here’s what the government could do right now:", "—provide multi-year base funding instead of project-based grants;", "—ensure funding meets demand, because no shelter should ever have to turn away women escaping violence, and they also shouldn’t have to fundraise to keep the lights on;", "—build affordable, non-market housing so women have a place to rebuild their lives after the shelter;", "—make sure brave survivors of sexual assault are not denied justice; don’t set rapists free because of court backlogs.", "I want to thank the amazing folks at London Abused Women’s Centre, Anova and Rotholme for the work they do to save and rebuild lives. You do the work of angels, and the government should pay you what you’re worth.", "The time is now. The province must declare intimate partner violence an epidemic and break the cycle of men’s violence against women." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "I rise today to highlight an exciting addition to the great riding of Ajax that will help address the growing demand for accessible health care in our community.", "A long-standing staple in our community, led by pharmacist manager Reza Ghaffari at Rexall, has recently added a new pharmacist-led clinic at the corner of Harwood Avenue South and Westney Road South. It’s a much-needed resource at a time when health care is top of mind for Ajax and beyond, aligning with our vision of providing quality care when you need it, where you need it.", "By expanding the role of pharmacists, this clinic offers a variety of services, including treating 14 minor ailments such as sore throat, pink eye, shingles and more; in addition, supporting patients with medication management, health screening and vaccinations. This model supports our health care system by alleviating pressures at our hospitals and emergency rooms, ensuring that patients can access more care quickly and efficiently.", "1020", "I thank Rexall for their investment in our community and for helping to strengthen Ontario’s health care infrastructure. This initiative is exactly the kind of innovation we need to continue to ensure Ontarians have access to the care they deserve." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Sol Mamakwa", "text": [ "Tomorrow, November 8, is Indigenous Veterans Day. This day was officially recognized for the first time in 1994, 30 years ago, in Manitoba. Over 7,000 First Nations people served in the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War, and likely around 12,000 Indigenous people served during the 20th century’s major conflicts. Over 500 of them lost their lives.", "For those who returned, Indigenous veterans were not given the same recognition granted to non-Indigenous veterans. After World War II, Indigenous veterans returned home to a country that continued to discriminate against them. Many Indigenous veterans lost their Indian status because they participated in the military, and some saw their lands taken away and given to non-Indigenous veterans.", "It is important that Indigenous Veterans Day exists, so that our veterans are honoured for their sacrifices, which came at great cost. I encourage everyone to educate themselves about the history of how Indigenous veterans were treated in Canada.", "Kiiwetinoong today is full of many young people serving. We thank you for your service. Meegwetch to all Indigenous veterans for your service in the military and for helping to defend and protect democracy, here and around the world. Meegwetch." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Lorne Coe", "text": [ "I’m honoured to rise today to congratulate Whitby resident Pat Foran on his induction into the Order of Ontario. The Order of Ontario is the province’s highest civilian honour. It’s awarded to an Ontarian who has shown the highest levels of excellence and achievement in their field and whose impact has left a legacy in our province, our country and around the world.", "As the trusted Consumer Alert reporter with CTV News Toronto, Pat has dedicated three decades to protecting and educating Ontario’s consumers. His persistent and insightful reporting on consumer fraud has helped thousands of Canadians recover millions of dollars, proving his unwavering commitment to public welfare. Today, Pat Foran is one of Ontario’s finest citizens, whose dedication exemplifies excellence in public service.", "Congratulations, Pat, to you and your family, on a well-deserved induction into the Order of Ontario." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Chris Glover", "text": [ "Ontario inherited a homelessness crisis of 21,000 people who were homeless across the province from the previous Liberal government. But since the Conservatives have been elected, that homelessness crisis has now exploded to 234,000 people homeless across Ontario.", "There are tent encampments in every community across this province. It’s a humanitarian nightmare for the people in the encampments and for the communities around them. But the Conservatives have consistently voted down every solution the Ontario NDP has brought forward. They voted against building 250,000 non-profit homes, including co-ops and social and supportive housing. They voted against restoring rent control. They supported the renoviction of seniors by the Chartwell corporation in Mississauga. That Chartwell corporation, actually, is taxpayer subsidized.", "Now, the Conservatives are proposing to use the “notwithstanding” clause to strip Ontarians of their charter rights. Not many people understand that the “notwithstanding” clause strips us of our fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of movement and our legal rights, so that if we are arrested, we must be charged and we must be brought before a judge, and we cannot be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment.", "These are the rights that this government wants to strip us of, and they’re using the homelessness crisis as an excuse to use the “notwithstanding” clause. It’s absolutely shameful. The solution to homelessness is to build housing, not to strip us of our human rights." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mrs. Daisy Wai", "text": [ "In my community of Richmond Hill, we are blessed with many local heroes, men and women who answered the call of duty in wars, peacekeeping missions and during critical moments in our history. These veterans embody the true spirit of service, sacrifice, courage and resilience. They have fought, bled and sometimes died to ensure our peace and security so we could live freely and in a prosperous and just society.", "We have worked hard to make sure that these brave men and women are never forgotten. We have displayed their banners throughout the town, each one with the name and story of a veteran, reminding everyone who passes by of the debt we owe them.", "As a Canadian who immigrated from Hong Kong, I was especially moved by the stories of Canadian soldiers in Hong Kong during World War II. The stories of these men resonate deeply within me. These soldiers fought with dignity and courage, knowing that they might not return home. They sacrificed everything to defend not just their comrades but the values we hold in Canada: democracy, peace and freedom. Their bravery under impossible circumstances is something we must never forget." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Bobbi Ann Brady", "text": [ "I rise to pay tribute to Marie Trainer, a Haldimand county councillor and former mayor. Marie passed away last Thursday from complications sustained nearly two months ago, after being involved in a serious motor vehicle collision. The self-styled people’s mayor was laid to rest Tuesday in the Hagersville area, where she ran the fields as a little country girl who enjoyed the simple but rich things in life, like being surrounded by family and friends.", "I met Marie at the beginning of my political career in 1999. I immediately knew she was a force to be reckoned with. Widowed at a young age and left to raise three boys on her own, Marie stared adversity in the face and found new opportunities for herself. As a result, Haldimand county got the very best in service and in leadership.", "Marie began her 40-year political career in 1985 as a councillor and served as mayor from 1991 until 2010. Last year, she returned to office in a ward by-election, and my goodness, it was as though the hands of time had been turned back. She was reinvigorated, determined to fight against the proposed city of 40,000 at the Nanticoke industrial park.", "It was just a few weeks ago that Marie insisted she attend a council meeting from her hospital bed. It was this grit and determination I admired so much. I will miss the usual greeting of a hug, a kiss and then in a very calm voice, “Let’s get down to business.”", "Rest in peace, sweet Marie." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "MmeDawn Gallagher Murphy", "text": [ "Cet été, j’ai eu le plaisir de faire une annonce marquante pour soutenir les aînés francophones de notre région. Je suis ravie de partager que l’Association des francophones de la région de York, AFRY, et la Communauté du Trille blanc, CTB, ont reçu des subventions pour enrichir le bien-être et l’intégration sociale de nos aînés.", "AFRY bénéficiera de jusqu’à 25 000 $ pour son programme « Les aînés s’amusent! », permettant aux aînés de la région de York de participer à des activités physiques, culturelles et sociales au cours des sept prochains mois. Ce programme répond à un besoin réel d’activités de loisirs adaptées pour nos aînés francophones.", "1030", "La CTB recevra jusqu’à 21 800 $ pour son programme « Engagement actif pour les aînés, » qui propose des activités éducatives et intergénérationnelles enrichissantes.", "Ces initiatives illustrent l’engagement de notre gouvernement envers la vitalité du bilinguisme en Ontario et offrent des occasions précieuses d’inclusion sociale et de bien-être aux aînés francophones de Newmarket, de la région de York, et dans tout l’Ontario." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Rudy Cuzzetto", "text": [ "I rise here this morning to honour Gayle Christie, the former mayor of York, who passed away recently. I would like to welcome her daughter Rebecca Christie and her granddaughters Lauren andAshleigh to the House today.", "Gayle was a true community champion, representing the people of York in many roles: as a trustee, alderman, mayor and as a member of the Metro Toronto council. She was a trailblazer in the 1970s, as one of the first women to enter politics and the first to serve as mayor of York. Gayle was an incredible advocate—for infrastructure, for economic development, for youth education and employment, for community safety, for the most vulnerable, and, in particular, for the Yorktown Women’s Shelter. She was committed to public service, and she worked together with leaders from all political parties and across the private sector and the public sector to build a better community.", "Speaker, everyone in politics on both sides of the aisle knew who Gayle was, and many had stories of her reaching out to them to help her constituents. Her determination and courage helped to pave the way for future generations, and they remain an inspiration to many here in this House today.", "We know that Gayle’s legacy will live on and have a positive impact for many years to come.", "On behalf of all the members, I want to extend my sincerest condolences to Rebecca and the entire Christie family today." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Kevin Holland", "text": [ "It’s a great honour for me to introduce my neighbour and good friend Erin Arps and her colleagues Katherine Tuomi and Hema Merai, all from the Ontario Association of Medical Radiation Sciences.", "Welcome to Queen’s Park." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Peter Tabuns", "text": [ "Speaker, I’m very pleased to welcome our guests from the Ontario Federation of Labour this morning: Laura Walton, president; Rob Halpin, general secretary; Crystal Stewart, director of health, safety and environment. They’re all here to press for protection for workers from heat stress.", "Welcome to the Legislature." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Mike Schreiner", "text": [ "It’s a real honour today to welcome members of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation. I want to thank you for your powerful words in the media studio this morning and specifically welcome Chief Janelle Nahmabin, Councillor John Adams, Councillor Darren Henry, Councillor Sherri Crowley, environment coordinator Lynn Rosales, consultants Scott and Cathy Grant, consultant Sharilyn Johnston, council clerk Ashley Jackson and Councillor Marina Plain.", "Thank you, and welcome to your House." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Kinga Surma", "text": [ "I would like to thank the member from Mississauga–Lakeshore for the kind words that he has said in this House.", "I have three very special guests here today: the daughter of Gayle Christie, Rebecca, and two grandchildren, Ashleigh and Lauren.", "Gayle unfortunately passed away in August. She was a remarkable woman. She was the former mayor of York and she was one of the very first people who helped me when I was seeking the nomination so that I could be in this House today to represent Etobicoke Centre. She has been a friend, an example for the community, and it has been a very terrible loss.", "So thank you so much to the family members who are here today. She will always be remembered as one of the strongest women that I’ve had the privilege to know." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Chris Glover", "text": [ "I want to welcome the Ontario Federation of Labour.", "I also want to welcome, from Save the Minden ER, Patrick Porzuczek.", "I also want to express my condolences to the family of Gayle Christie. She was a good friend and supporter." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Mary-Margaret McMahon", "text": [ "Good morning, everyone. I’d like to introduce my brand new constituency assistant, clever Colleen Staples. Please do not scare her off with your behaviour. She’s in the House today for the first time.", "I’d also like to acknowledge the representatives from Wasaga Beach, near my old hometown. I’m looking forward to seeing your vintage bus and joining you at lunch today." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Dave Smith", "text": [ "I have a couple of introductions. First, I’ll start with, on behalf of the member from Simcoe–Grey, the township of Wasaga is here today. They have a reception this morning at 11:45. Please come on down to that, and he’ll have more to say for that.", "Secondly, I’d like to introduce the mother of page Ali, Marilyn Buchanan, who is up in the public gallery today." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "It’s really a pleasure to introduce and welcome the following visitors who are here at Queen’s Park today with Aamjiwnaang First Nation for a media conference and rally to call on the government to take action on the toxic pollution that’s harming their community’s health. With us today are Chief Janelle Nahmabin, Councillor Marina Plain, Councillor Darren Henry, Councillor Sherri Crowley, Councillor John Adams, Aamjiwnaang environment coordinator Lynn Rosales, Kim Henry, Cathy Grant, Scott Grant, Shawn Crowley, Sharilyn Johnston and Ashley Jackson.", "Thank you so much for joining us here today. Welcome." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Bobbi Ann Brady", "text": [ "Happy Thursday to you all. It is my pleasure to introduce to the House someone I thoroughly enjoy working with and who is here on her very first visit to Queen’s Park: Haldimand county mayor Shelley Ann Bentley. Welcome to the House, Your Worship." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "If there are no objections, I’d like to continue with introduction of visitors." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Ric Bresee", "text": [ "It’s my pleasure to introduce a former municipal colleague, a councillor for Loyalist township and good friend, Mike Budarick." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Jessica Bell", "text": [ "I’d like to introduce the parents of Jakob, who is a page this period: Nada Grasic Finley and Greg Finley. Welcome to your House." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Mike Schreiner", "text": [ "I’d also like to introduce from Ecojustice here to support folks from Aamjiwnaang. From Ecojustice: Muhannad Malas, Elaine MacDonald, Ja’miil Millar and Seán O’Shea.", "Welcome to Queen’s Park and thank you for supporting." ] }, { "speaker": "M. Stéphane Sarrazin", "text": [ "J’aimerais souhaiter la bienvenue aux élèves de l’École secondaire catholique L’Escale de Rockland. J’ai eu la chance de m’entretenir avec eux ce matin.", "Je suis vraiment fier d’avoir eu beaucoup de visites d’école de notre circonscription récemment. Je dois remercier le ministère de l’Éducation pour le financement duprogramme des voyageurs pour la démocratie.", "Donc, bienvenue à Queen’s Park aux élèves de l’école L’Escale de Rockland.", "1040" ] }, { "speaker": "MmeFrance Gélinas", "text": [ "I would like to welcome members of the Ontario Association of Medical Radiation Sciences: their president and CEO, Greg Toffner; the chair of the board of directors, Stephanie Shiplo; as well as Erin Arps, François Gallant, Kati Tuomi, Hema Merai, Christina Perris and Corinne Radake. They also invite all of us to a luncheon after question period.", "I also want to welcome members of the Alliance for Advancing Recovery. Those are Kathy Armstrong, Manon LaFountaine, Steve Doherty, Dr. Eibisch as well as Veronique Parry.", "And, of course, save the Minden hospital representative Patrick Porzuczek.", "Welcome to Queen’s Park." ] }, { "speaker": "Mrs. Robin Martin", "text": [ "On behalf of Minister Kerzner, MPP Laura Smith as well as myself, I would like to introduce some members of our community who are great supporters: Igor Korenzvit and his wife, Bonnie. Thank you and welcome to the Legislature." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Anthony Leardi", "text": [ "On behalf of the entire PC caucus, I would like to welcome the Ontario Association of Medical Radiation Sciences to Queen’s Park. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I would like to introduce a special guest visiting the Legislature today. It is Kayan Sidhwa who is newlywed to Tanaz Sidhwa. Congratulations and welcome to Queen’s Park. Great to have you here." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Michael Parsa", "text": [ "I’d like to welcome Sally Freitas and Doug Steele, board chair of Welcoming Arms, a charitable organization in my riding that, through their long-standing efforts, supports families across Aurora and beyond. I’d like to congratulate Sally, who was just appointed as the executive director of the organization. Congratulations, welcome to Queen’s Park and thank you both for everything you do for our community." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "As provided for by the Remembrance Week Act, 2016, the House will now pause and observe two minutes of silence in honour of those who died serving their country in wars and peacekeeping efforts.", "This will be followed by an opportunity for members to give remarks, with five minutes allotted to the official opposition, five minutes allotted to the government and five minutes to the independent members as a group.", "I will now ask members to please rise.", "The House observed two minutes’ silence." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Thank you. Members will please take their seats.", "I recognize the member for St. Catharines." ] }, { "speaker": "Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens", "text": [ "Speaker, it is both a privilege and honour to stand here before you as we come together to remember and reflect on the sacrifices of our veterans.", "Regardless of the differences that may exist between us in this chamber, we are united in wearing our poppies with pride. This is a symbol of respect, a symbol of remembrance and a symbol of our shared identity as proud Canadians leading up to November 11, the most significant day of recognition in our whole country.", "As Canadians, from our smallest towns to our largest cities, we pause in silence on Remembrance Day. We gather at cenotaphs, at our local Legions, honouring the names of our heroes: our mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and ancestors, those who gave everything so we can live in peace and harmony and freedom.", "This month holds a deeply personal meaning for me. My family has a proud military history. Both my grandfathers served with distinction during the Second World War and my father served in the Royal Canadian Navy. This rich military legacy has been woven into the very fabric of our family story.", "Today, my son, Petty Officer First Class Jonathan Lindal, proudly serves with the Canadian navy. The tradition of service continues in our family, and I know many of you here share similar moments of pride.", "This year, we reflect on 85 years since the start of World War II in 1939. Canadians played a pivotal role in this conflict. This battle, like many others, showcased the courage and the determination of our troops. These heroes carried Canada’s values across vast oceans, from the beaches of Normandy to the liberation efforts throughout Europe.", "Canada’s military history is long and storied, and it is crucial that we acknowledge the roles played by Indigenous peoples here in our military history. The Six Nations Confederacy, along with other Indigenous allies, made crucial contributions during the War of 1812, particularly at the battle of Queenston Heights, which is still commemorated in Niagara every year. Too often, the military service of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada is not fully recognized. Their sacrifices, however, are just as significant, and we must ensure that their contributions are remembered and honoured.", "As we commemorate our veterans, we also recognize that the face of military service is evolving. Today, many veterans are younger, having served in more recent conflicts as Afghanistan. We often think of veterans as those who served in mid-century conflicts, but what it means to be a veteran is ever-changing, shaped by the challenges of modern-day service.", "The Highway of Heroes, a solemn route that carries home our fallen, serves as a reminder of sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform. It stands as a tribute to the courage of those who served in difficult and dangerous conditions in foreign lands.", "Warrant Officer Dennis Brown, a friend of mine and a St. Catharines-raised service member, paid the ultimate sacrifice during his time in Afghanistan. While his name and the names of some of our modern-day heroes may not be etched on our local cenotaphs, their legacy still lives on in our hearts and minds.", "I am proud to work alongside individuals who have served in our Armed Forces. Their experiences and insights, shaped by the time in uniform, enrich our communities and our country.", "I’d like to take moment to acknowledge one of our colleagues, the member from Kanata–Carleton, for her incredible 26-year military career. She made history as the first woman in Canada to qualify as an air navigator, the first woman to command an air force squadron, and served courageously in numerous battle zones. Thank you for your service and for being a trailblazer in your field.", "1050", "We must also acknowledge the pressing issues faced by veterans today. Access to mental health supports, particularly for PTSD, remains a critical need. There are also ongoing calls for better support for affordable housing, career opportunities post-service and defining care for our aging veterans. These issues must remain a collective priority, transcending political divides. The freedoms we enjoy today came at a steep cost to the others. It is our responsibility to ensure that those who served are supported, now and well into the future.", "As we gather across Ontario at cemeteries adorned with medals, each one representing courage, leadership and sacrifice, let us not forget the debt we owe those who served and those who continue to serve. From Legions to veterans’ clubs, there are organizations dedicated to preserving the stories of our veterans. I encourage all of us to take the time to visit our local Legions and to talk to our service members, and to listen to the wisdom and experience they must share.", "Finally, let us commit to carrying forward the values that our veterans protected with such courage. When you see a service member, take a moment to say thank you. These two simple words carry great weight, Speaker. To my colleagues here today: Whether your great-grandparents, parents or children have served, let us stand together on November 11 and say thank you. Lest we forget. We will remember them." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I recognize the member for Kanata–Carleton." ] }, { "speaker": "Mrs. Karen McCrimmon", "text": [ "This Remembrance Week, I’d like to use my time to reflect on service and sacrifice, and to express my thanks to all of the brave Canadians who have served and continue to serve our country. Freedom isn’t free. Its costs are paid by our service members: not only a personal cost to their physical and mental health, but also a cost borne by their families and loved ones who support them and mourn them.", "When faced with such high costs, we must all ask ourselves: Why? Why sacrifice so much? They believed in something bigger than themselves. They believed in the freedom that a functioning democracy can bring for all of its people. This freedom must be protected today. It falls on all of us, the inheritors of this freedom, to defend the gifts that we have been given.", "There are always those who admire authoritarian leaders, those who want to emulate them using authoritarian tactics and strategies to abuse the power with which they have been entrusted. They must be challenged. We need strong democratic processes and institutions, an empowered and independent press that serves the truth and that serves the people, not just corporate interests and the wealthiest among us. All must be defended, fought for and protected over and over again.", "Remembering the sacrifice of those before us teaches us our duty to those still to come. Lest we forget." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Guelph." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Mike Schreiner", "text": [ "I’m honoured to rise today to pay tribute to veterans and first responders who have sacrificed so much to defend our democracy and keep us safe. It’s difficult to fathom the courage it takes for those young Canadians who served in the World Wars, Korea, Afghanistan, on peacekeeping missions and so many other conflicts. They deserve our gratitude and support each and every day.", "I try to live by the words of Guelph’s most famous veteran, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, who reminds that us we must not break faith with those who fought and died for our freedoms. All of us in this House and across our province and indeed our country have a duty and a responsibility to not break faith with those veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedoms and our democracy.", "As conflict is on the rise around the world and democracy is being questioned, may we honour the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country by continuing to remind us of the stark reality of what it takes to defend democracy and freedom at home and abroad. On this day and every day, we must honour them. We must thank them. Lest we forget." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Haldimand–Norfolk." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Bobbi Ann Brady", "text": [ "In the coming days, we will all witness the spectacular colours, sounds and traditions of our regiments, veteran and military service organizations and squadrons like the sight and sound of a lone bugler playing the Last Post. The ceremonies and events afford us an opportunity to show deep appreciation for the priceless gift of freedom.", "Haldimand–Norfolk has a distinguished military history whereby citizens have continually stood up to answer the call. They have all done us proud. We see them, we support them and we stand with them.", "One of those people is my childhood friend Brigadier General Ryan Deming. He has been serving in the military since 1993. In a recent speech, he conveyed he has experienced humanity at its best and, unfortunately, at its worst. He’s endured the complexity and managed chaos in theatres of war.", "In closing, he said, “I wanted to serve, to do my part, however small, to make the world a better place so that my son, my nieces and their generation can be proud of the country we call home.”", "While it is difficult to find the words to truly convey the sincerest of appreciation, may we all go reminding ourselves that freedom comes at a cost, and we must never forget those that have fought and fallen to preserve the freedoms of our great nation. Tell your kids and grandkids of such men and women. And as we embark upon Remembrance Day, take the time to partake in events that point to the bravery of past warriors and tell their stories of their deeds." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The Associate Minister of Auto Theft and Bail Reform." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Graham McGregor", "text": [ "Good morning. It’s an honour and a privilege to rise in the House today on behalf of the government of Ontario and our PC caucus as we recognize and pay tribute to Remembrance Day. Recognized annually November 11, we commemorate the end of hostilities during the First World War and remember the courage and sacrifice shown by all those who have fought to secure our freedoms, whether on the slopes of Vimy Ridge, the beaches of Normandy, in Korea, the Middle East or anywhere in-between.", "Remembrance Day, originally referred to as Armistice Day, commemorates that first armistice agreement that ended the First World War on Monday, November 11, 1918. More than 650,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders served in that war. Over 66,000 perished, while more than 172,000 were wounded. Lest we forget.", "Prior to the First World War, we lost over 7,000 brave Canadians who volunteered for service, alongside the British forces in the South African War, which took place from 1899 to 1902. Lest we forget.", "From 1939 to 1945, during the Second World War, over one million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served in uniform, both here at home and around the world and, for over six years at war, more than 45,000 brave individuals in that Canadian uniform gave their lives for us while another 55,000 were wounded. Lest we forget.", "1100", "During the Korean War, from 1950 to 1953, after North Korean troops invaded South Korea, over 26,000 Canadians served on land, at sea and in the air during this conflict. Unfortunately, 516 Canadians lost their lives. Lest we forget.", "More than 4,000 Canadians served during the Gulf War of the early 1990s in the Persian Gulf region as part of the coalition of countries to remove the invading forces of Iraq from neighbouring Kuwait. Lest we forget.", "In Afghanistan, after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the US formed an international coalition to use force against the Taliban. Not only was this the largest deployment of our Canadian troops since the Second World War, and the longest conflict in Canada’s history, lasting more than 12 years, but over 40,000 Canadians served our country during this time. Lest we forget.", "And to all those who have served in the Canadian Armed Forces, who have made significant contributions in dozens of peacekeeping missions around the world—lest we forget.", "Now, every year on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Canadians pause in a moment of silence to honour and remember the brave men and women who have served and continue to serve Canada during times of war, conflict and peace. It’s up to us as Canadians to share that responsibility of keeping their stories and experiences alive and to remind the next generations of their sacrifices.", "As a government, we remain committed to educating the next generation on the sacrifices and all that our Canadian Armed Forces do. We must empower and support those who have served courageously so that they, too, may find success and opportunity upon returning to civilian life.", "Earlier this week, I had the immense honour and privilege of tabling the Honouring Veterans Act, 2024. I’m very proud that we got through third reading last night with the support of members of all political parties, of all political stripes—getting together to do the right thing. I’m reminded of the Christmas truce in World War I, where members of both sides put aside their differences because they remembered our common humanity and what’s important. I think, although much lesser than that incident, our parties getting together, putting partisan politics aside to do what is right by our veterans, is something that every member of this House should be proud of, and I’m very grateful to the members of the NDP, the Liberals and the Greens for their support to make that happen.", "We all have the privilege to serve our province and country, and why we have that privilege is because of the sacrifices paid by brave men and women who have defended this country at home and abroad. We can never properly thank them enough, but we can sure as heck try. It’s incumbent on all of us, not just with the bill that we put forward, but to continue to work to make sure we’re supporting, remembering and commemorating those who paid the ultimate sacrifices and also the almost 150,000 Ontarians who are veterans living in our province today—and growing.", "On Remembrance Day, I encourage Ontarians to take the opportunity to honour and remember the 2.3 million Canadians who have served throughout our nation’s history and the 118,000 who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Lest we forget.", "Applause." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I want to thank the members for their eloquence.", "We will remember them." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I recognize the member for Kanata–Carleton on a point of order." ] }, { "speaker": "Mrs. Karen McCrimmon", "text": [ "Yesterday, I tabled a motion calling for Canadian Armed Forces reservists to not be excluded from Metrolinx’s free transit program. I seek the unanimous consent of the House for leave to move private member’s notice of motion number 144 and that the question be put without debate or amendment. Thank you." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Kanata–Carleton is seeking the unanimous consent of the House for leave to move private member’s notice of motion number 144 and that question be put without debate or amendment. Agreed? Agreed.", "I recognize again the member for Kanata–Carleton." ] }, { "speaker": "Mrs. Karen McCrimmon", "text": [ "Thank you, everyone.", "I move that, in the opinion of this House, Metrolinx must ensure that active members of the Canadian Armed Forces reserve are not excluded from the program for veterans and active Canadian Armed Forces to receive free fares on GO Transit and the UP Express." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Mrs. McCrimmon has moved that, in the opinion of this House, Metrolinx must ensure that active members of the Canadian Armed Forces reserve are not excluded from the program for veterans and active Canadian Armed Forces to receive free fares on GO Transit and the UP Express.", "Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.", "Motion agreed to." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I recognize the government House leader on a point of order." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Clark", "text": [ "Point of order, Speaker: Our government has the deepest respect and gratitude for all members of our armed forces. The Minister of Transportation has directed Metrolinx to ensure that all past and present members of the Canadian Armed Forces can travel free on GO Transit. Reservists play a very important part in that.", "I want to thank the member for Kanata–Carleton for bringing this motion forward today, and on behalf of our government, I want to thank her for her service." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I’ll recognize next the member for Ajax on a new point of order." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "We were saddened last night that one worker was killed and two were injured in an accident in North York during a sewer pipe repair. I ask the House to recognize a moment of silence in honour." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Ajax is seeking the unanimous consent of the House for a moment’s silence in memory of the worker who lost his life in North York. Agreed? Agreed.", "Members will please rise.", "The House observed a moment’s silence." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members may please take their seats." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "This question is for the Premier. Last month, the Premier told AM 640 that his government considered buying back Highway 407. I’ve got to tell you, this was surprising, Speaker, because this same government—his government, the Premier—voted against our motion to remove tolls for truckers on the 407.", "So we wanted to find out a little bit more about that, and we filed a freedom-of-information request for the government’s studies and their assessments of this Highway 407 buyback idea. It turns out, there aren’t any—no studies, no assessments, nothing.", "The Ministry of Transportation was unable to find a single record showing that the government had ever considered buying back Highway 407. So why did the Premier make this claim?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "To reply, the Minister of Transportation." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria", "text": [ "Our government has a plan to build. It has a plan to build highways across this province, whether that’s Highway 413, whether that’s the Bradford Bypass, Highway 7. And we have a plan: We’ve removed tolls off the 412 and 418 that, unfortunately, the Liberals put in place and the NDP supported to keep in place until this Premier and our government removed those tolls.", "1110", "We need to continue to expand our capacity across this province, and that is why this government continues to put forward these plans. It’s unfortunate that the NDP don’t want to support building more highways across this province. There hasn’t been a single project that they haven’t voted against.", "We need to get people moving across this province, and we’ll continue to come in with a plan that supports the entire province and builds for the future." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "I’m not sure that was an answer at all to my question, actually, Speaker.", "But look, taking tolls off of trucks on the 407 is a simple measure that makes a lot of sense and would relieve congestion right away. But with this government, what’s good for people always seems to take a back seat to the interests of insiders and lobbyists, no matter the cost. We have no costing on Highway 413, no opening date on three major LRT projects and a $100-billion estimate for a back-of-a-napkin tunnel scheme.", "Whenever the Premier comes up with some on-the-fly idea, no matter how much it costs, it becomes these ministers’ and this government’s, I guess, responsibility to defend that. So why won’t the Premier show people the evidence and costing for his transportation decisions before he spends the people’s money?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria", "text": [ "Speaker, here we have the NDP once again—that was the same party that opposed the transit plan that this Premier put to the people of this province six years ago. They call that “back-of-the-napkin.” Guess what? We’ve got shovels in the ground on the Ontario Line. We’ve got shovels in the ground on the Scarborough subway extension. We’re building LRTs across this province.", "The NDP lacks the vision for this province. They’re no different than the Liberals who for 15 years did absolutely nothing, built absolutely nothing in the province. It’s a shame, Mr. Speaker. They will find every excuse in the book to get in the way of building progress for this province.", "The voters spoke loud and clear when we took these questions to them on June 2, 2022. Those members over there know they lost members in key ridings like Brampton and Peel region. We swept those ridings. Why? Because they believed in our vision to build highways, to build transit.", "The NDP is too focused on appeasing special interest groups who want us to stop building. We won’t take any of that. We won’t listen to them. We’re going to continue to get shovels in the ground and build our transportation projects." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The final supplementary?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "Here’s the thing, Speaker: Life in Ontario under this government has never been more expensive or exhausting in our history.", "Removing truck tolls was just one simple way to save some people time and money, but they voted against it—they voted against it. It was only when the Premier got any kind of pushback that he said, “Oh, I’ll look into buying back the 407.”", "But our research, our freedom-of-information request, shows that never happened—that never happened.", "Interjection." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Government House leader, come to order." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "We need the Premier to set the record straight and make his choice. Will he stand up for truckers and commuters and remove those costly tolls, or is he going to keep protecting the interests of the private company that runs the 407?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will please take their seats.", "Minister of Transportation." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria", "text": [ "Mr. Speaker, we are standing up for drivers and truckers every single day of the year. Let’s look at the record of the NDP—voted against removing taxes off of gas. We just, last week, extended that through the fall economic statement. The NDP has an option to support that measure that has been put into the fall economic statement for an extension. Will they do that? I don’t think so, because they’ve voted against it every single time.", "When we took off the $125 sticker fee on our vehicles, what did the NDP do? They laughed. They didn’t support it. They’ve never had a tax that they haven’t supported.", "Our fight against the carbon tax that punishes hard-working families every single day when they’re taking their kids to hockey practice, basketball practice and when they’re taking their kids to school—those members over there have stood—in fact, they have stood to ask us to increase the carbon tax to the highest we’ve ever seen it. That’s a shame, Mr. Speaker.", "The NDP don’t stand for drivers. The NDP don’t stand for building progress in this province. They’ve voted against every single one of those measures. They continue to oppose everything this government does when it comes to building infrastructure, to building transportation. But guess what? We’re going to get shovels in the ground. We’re going to keep putting more money back in the pockets of hard-working families. And we will build this province for the next 10, 20 and 50 years so people can enjoy the infrastructure that we are putting forward." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "The hard-working families that this government likes to talk about have never had to struggle more than they do right now under any previous government. It is unbelievable.", "I’m going to go back to the Premier, because the evidence that insiders and lobbyists are calling the shots with this government keeps piling up. Yesterday, we learned that key emails and records related to the rerouting of the Bradford Bypass and all of the associated costs around that are missing—disappeared.", "The senior Conservative staffer in question in the Minister of Transportation’s office was none other than Ryan Amato. People will remember that name because he’s the same former staffer who is currently refusing to hand in his emails from the whole greenbelt affair.", "I want to ask the Premier: Did staff in the Minister of Transportation’s office delete emails?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Minister of Transportation." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria", "text": [ "The Bradford Bypass, Highway 413, Highway 7—our $28-billion plan to build highways was put to the people of this province in the most transparent manner. In fact, those members right there know that very well because they’ve lost three members of their caucus in Brampton in their opposition to Highway 413. And guess what? They’ve lost the last three by-elections and they still haven’t learned.", "Every single time they stand up and oppose progress in this province, it’s a shame. We have a plan to build. We have a plan to invest $70 billion over the next 10 years to build public transit. The Ontario Line will take and move 400,000 people every single day—a line that the people of Toronto have been asking for for decades, and guess what? Those members over there have voted against it every single time. They want us to go back to the 15 years of the previous Liberal government where they built absolutely nothing in the province. They gave us the worst gridlock. They left us a bankrupt province.", "But our government is committed to building. We’re committed to building for the next generation, the next 50 years. We have a vision to support jobs. We have a vision to continue building. We’ll build Highway 413, we’re going to build the Bradford Bypass and we’re going to ensure we continue moving Ontario forward." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The supplementary?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "Speaker, this is a really important issue, and I’ll tell you why: It’s because the rerouting of the Bradford Bypass wasn’t based on any evidence that anybody can find. But thanks to this government’s decision, the value of certain parcels of land associated with that rerouting suddenly skyrocketed—land that happened to be owned by some of the same Conservative insiders that were involved in benefiting from the greenbelt scheme. In the few records that do exist out there, staff in the Minister of Transportation’s office said this request to look into changing the route came directly from the Premier.", "Can the Premier clarify what direction he gave to the Minister of Transportation’s office?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria", "text": [ "Let me clarify the direction the people of this province gave this government on June 2, 2022: Build Highway 413 and build the Bradford Bypass. This is exactly what we will do. It doesn’t matter what the NDP or Liberals try to do to oppose that. Every piece of legislation that we bring forward in this House is to move those projects faster because we know people are stuck in gridlock. We know, because of the inaction of the previous Liberal government building nothing in this province for 15 years—no transit, no highways, no roads—it’s our government that’s moving forward on this ambitious plan: $100 billion between highways and public transit to build.", "The NDP and Liberals will oppose it every step of the way, but we’re going to continue to get shovels in the ground and we’re going to continue to build because Ontario asked us to do that. The people of this province asked us to build, and that’s exactly what we’ll continue to deliver on.", "Whether it’s the Ontario Line, the Scarborough subway extension, whether it’s Highway 413 or the Bradford Bypass, all of those projects are getting built and we’re going to get shovels in the ground.", "1120" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The final supplementary?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "On this side of the House, we think that transportation decisions should serve the interests of the people, not the interests of the Premier’s friends and donors. That’s the thing.", "It looks like these changes to the Bradford Bypass route were a test drive for the tactics they used to try to carve out the greenbelt. High-ranking staff taking very specific instructions from the Premier directly, major changes in government policy, directed again by insiders—and all the evidence scrubbed from the record.", "This is the kind of shady business that undermines Ontario’s credibility—", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Order.", "I’d ask the member to withdraw the unparliamentary remark." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Marit Stiles", "text": [ "Withdrawn.", "This is the kind of questionable business that undermines Ontario’s accountability, undermines the public trust, and it isn’t going to get a single person home faster.", "I’d like to ask the Premier: When is he going to clear the air? Or is this just going to be another one of those cases where the Premier cuts deals, insiders cash in and it’s the people of Ontario stuck carrying the bag?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will please take their seats.", "Minister of Transportation to reply." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria", "text": [ "Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition can try to spin it whatever way she wants, but guess what? We’re building Highway 413 and we’re building the Bradford Bypass. These are critical projects in this province. They’ve been on the books for 20 years. The Liberals did absolutely nothing. They didn’t want to build in this province.", "We are in record gridlock today, Mr. Speaker. The city of Toronto ranks as the highest gridlock almost in the entire world. In North America, we are the worst—the top three in the world. And guess what? It’s because of the inaction of the Liberal government, supported by the NDP. Now what do we have the Leader of the Opposition trying to do? Trying to get in the way of public transit, trying to get in the way of highways.", "That’s a shame, but I’m not surprised. They’re beholden to special interests that don’t want anything built in this province, whether that’s housing, whether that’s transportation, whether that’s the hospital projects that we are building across this province—over 54 projects that they have opposed in their own ridings in their own communities—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Thank you.", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Stop the clock. It’s getting a little noisy in here, and I’ll remind the members that if they ignore the request of the Speaker to come to order, the next stage is, of course, warnings, and if they continue to ignore the Speaker, they will be named.", "Start the clock. The next question." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Sandy Shaw", "text": [ "My question is to the President of the Treasury Board. Reporting reveals that the Premier personally asked the Ministry of Transportation to look at changing the route of the Bradford Bypass through the greenbelt. This request was conveyed to Ryan Amato, who was, at that time, this minister’s director of stakeholder relations. It’s highly unusual that the Premier would ask a staffer to make such a significant change to the route of a major highway without consulting the minister herself.", "We know that the route was changed. So my question, through you, Mr. Speaker, is: What did the President of the Treasury Board know about this request when she was the Minister of Transportation and when did she know it?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "To reply for the government, the Minister of Transportation." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria", "text": [ "Mr. Speaker, the Bradford Bypass will save commuters 35 minutes each way. That is the progress that those members are trying to oppose. What a shame. They lack a vision for this province. They lack a vision to build Ontario. That’s why they will remain on that side of the House, Mr. Speaker.", "Under the leadership of Premier Ford, we are going to build Ontario for the next 50 to 100 years. We’re building important infrastructure projects. Unfortunately, the Liberals did absolutely nothing in their 15 years to do anything to support the growth of this province.", "We’re investing in critical infrastructure, like the 413, like the Bradford Bypass. That project alone will support over 2,000 jobs during construction. That is the type of progress they want to eliminate in this province. They are losing construction workers every single day in their opposition to these projects. Whether we’re talking about tunnelling, whether we’re talking about the Bradford Bypass, Highway 413, these are good-paying jobs that those members over there oppose. But this government will continue to build for the future." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Sandy Shaw", "text": [ "Many important questions remain unanswered, and I’m sure that the President of the Treasury Board has those answers, if she would stand up. Freedom-of-information requests turned up almost no records on major highway decisions that will cost taxpayers billions and billions of dollars. This paints a picture of a Minister of Transportation who was intentionally looking away.", "Again, I ask the President of the Treasury Board, through you, Mr. Speaker: Why is a staffer whom the Integrity Commissioner described as “untrained and unsupervised” making decisions about changing the route of the Bradford Bypass instead of this minister herself?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will please take their seats.", "Minister of Transportation." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria", "text": [ "The decision was made by the people of this province when they elected us on a historic majority mandate for our second term. That was a mandate to build the Bradford Bypass. That was a mandate to build Highway 413, Mr. Speaker. Those members over there should look at their caucus. It’s shrinking. They have lost three by-elections because they continue to oppose projects that will support everyday Ontarians.", "We’re going to be creating thousands of jobs, good-paying jobs, whether it be through building Highway 413, the Bradford Bypass or $100 billion invested in both public transit and highways across this province. They are opposing good-paying jobs. They are opposing progress in this province. But that doesn’t shock me; they’re beholden to special interests that don’t want anything built. Whether it’s a hospital, whether it’s a highway, whether it’s public transit, they will always oppose progress in the province of Ontario. But we will continue to get—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Thank you.", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The Leader of the Opposition will come to order.", "The next question." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Dave Smith", "text": [ "My question is for the Minister of Energy and Electrification. The Trudeau-Crombie carbon tax is making life more expensive for families and businesses all across Ontario. People in my riding of Peterborough–Kawartha are burdened with higher costs for everything from groceries to home heating and vehicle gas. I have people in North Kawartha who have to travel at times 40 or 50 kilometres just to get their groceries and they pay more because of the carbon tax.", "Speaker, the independent Liberals and the opposition NDP may be happy with the status quo, but our government knows that Ontarians have had enough. They want solutions, not tax hike after tax hike after tax hike, and they definitely don’t want an additional tax for municipalities.", "Can the minister please explain how the Trudeau-Crombie carbon tax is impacting Ontario families and what our government is doing to protect these families from the escalating costs?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Stephen Lecce", "text": [ "I want to thank the member from Peterborough for standing up for common sense in this House. We believe that the Liberal carbon tax is making life unaffordable for the people of Ontario. In fact, 25% of energy bills in this province now are being driven up as a result of the carbon tax. Some $25 billion is taken out of our economy because of the Liberal carbon tax. And because of the former Liberal policies, people in this province—working families and seniors—pay $1,000 more each and every year.", "We know that we must prioritize affordable energy. It’s why we introduced the Affordable Energy Act, which codifies in law that this government will use competitive procurements, not ideology, to ensure we have the lowest rates available to incent investment and keep rates down for our families. The Affordable Energy Act is an enabler of conservation initiatives. It expands nuclear energy and it ensures that we keep the lights on and the rates low for the people of this province." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Supplementary?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Dave Smith", "text": [ "Thank you to the minister for that response. Manufacturers, farmers and small businesses are being forced to deal with rising operating costs driven by higher Liberal taxes. The Liberal members in this House and their federal colleagues don’t seem to understand that higher taxes are hurting working-class people. In fact, they’ve even suggested another 1% retail sales tax.", "All of this sets people back. That’s why Ontario families and businesses are looking to our government for an affordable energy future, with nuclear energy playing a critical role. They want government to prioritize affordability first and foremost.", "1130", "Can the minister please outline how the government will advance non-emitting nuclear energy to keep energy affordable and reliable for Ontario families and businesses?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Stephen Lecce", "text": [ "Nuclear energy was the pivotal enabler of what allowed our province to displace coal energy a decade ago. We need non-emitting nuclear energy to ensure we deliver an affordable energy future for the people of Ontario.", "But let’s reflect on what transpired over the past years in this province. It was the Liberals and the NDP who started and stopped the Darlington nuclear station. It was the Liberals who tried to put an end to the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station that produces 2,000 megawatts of non-emitting, clean power for the people of Ontario, for the two million families who depend on it—4,500 jobs depend on Pickering alone.", "We know that we are leading the largest nuclear energy expansion on the continent because it is affordable and because it is clean and because it produces reliable, 24/7, enduring power that our economy requires. We are going to continue to invest in non-emitting sources of energy so we can deliver affordability for the people of this province." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "MmeFrance Gélinas", "text": [ "Ma question est pour le premier ministre.", "Algoma Public Health reported that the opioid death rate in Sault Ste. Marie is the highest in all of Ontario: over 64 deaths per 100,000.", "Mayor Shoemaker had this to say: “Timmins was perennially higher than us and when they got a supervised consumption site, things seemed to stabilize and improve for them. We were in the process of preparing a supervised consumption site, we didn’t ever get one—that’s in my view why our stats didn’t improve.”", "What is the Premier doing to keep the people of Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma alive right now?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Essex and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Anthony Leardi", "text": [ "Speaker, the member makes reference to drug injection sites. Let me tell you, we have heard the message loud and clear from the mothers and fathers of the province of Ontario. They are tired of stepping over needles when they walk their children to school. They are tired of seeing their children exposed to drug activity. They are tired of the violence that the drug injection sites attract. They are tired of the drug activity and trafficking that the drug injection sites attract.", "That is why this government is imposing a 200-metre protection zone around every school and every child care facility in the province of Ontario, because we don’t want drugs and we don’t want used needles anywhere near the children of the province of Ontario." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Supplementary?" ] }, { "speaker": "MmeFrance Gélinas", "text": [ "Speaker, throughout northern Ontario, opioid deaths are sky-high. Thunder Bay and Timmins will lose their consumption and treatment sites. In Sudbury, where this government refused to fund the consumption and treatment site, overdose deaths continue to rise non-stop.", "I will be attending a funeral on Saturday; one more of my friends died of an overdose. Every single day, seven people in Ontario die from this opioid overdose epidemic. So I ask the Premier, what is the Premier going to do now to keep northerners alive?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will please take their seats.", "The Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Michael A. Tibollo", "text": [ "The government has and continues to make investments in ensuring that we build a system of treatment and recovery, not just in southern Ontario but in northern Ontario as well. In fact, the Addictions Recovery Fund opened—54% of the funding went to northern Ontario. It went to cities like Thunder Bay, like Sudbury, like Timmins, like Sioux Lookout. Those investments so far have opened up 280 beds through the Addictions Recovery Fund. It has created 10,000 treatment spots for individuals that didn’t exist before. And our government is continuing to make those investments with the HART hubs that will be opening, hopefully, very soon as well.", "The continuum of care belongs in the community. Everyone wants treatment and recovery, not to be kept on a substance and continuing to use. They want to be treated, and that’s what we’re doing." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Andrew Dowie", "text": [ "My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. My home of Windsor–Tecumseh is the place that drives Ontario’s economy. It’s home to hard-working families and a thriving auto sector because of our government’s leadership and investments. But the success we see in Windsor–Tecumseh isn’t just built here at home, it’s also deeply tied to trade with the United States. This trade supports good-paying jobs in Windsor’s factories, warehouses and small businesses. It fuels our local economy and keeps our workers employed.", "Given how interlinked Ontario’s economy is with the United States, the people of my riding have watched the US election with uncertainty about what this will mean for the future. Can the minister please explain what our government is doing to ensure that Ontario-US relations continue to thrive with a new administration south of the border?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Victor Fedeli", "text": [ "Well, we can start by following the Premier’s foot forward on offering congratulations to President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance.", "We have a long, enduring and very important relationship with the United States. It’s built on our strong economic ties. It’s built on our shared values and our integrated supply chains, which are most important to the member from Windsor. There are millions of people on both sides of the border who are counting on us here in Ontario to build on these opportunities: our manufacturing, our critical minerals and our energy. These are the issues that will be most prominent to the Americans.", "We’ll be back in Washington in December. We’ll be back in Washington in January. And if you listen to Premier Ford, he will tell you: bet big on Ontario." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Andrew Dowie", "text": [ "Our government has shown that we will work with elected officials of all political stripes. Since we took office, we’ve seen a Republican President and a Democrat President. Now, the political makeup of the Senate and the House of Representatives has changed numerous times. Governors and Legislatures of states that are key trading partners to Ontario have also changed. But one thing that hasn’t changed is our government’s ability to work with everyone we need to, to ensure Ontario’s economy continues to thrive.", "Can the minister please expand on the importance of the Ontario-US economic relationship and highlight what else we are doing to ensure this relationship continues to remain strong?" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Victor Fedeli", "text": [ "We have, as I mentioned earlier, such a long and storied history with the United States. It is now built to the point where we do $500 billion a year in two-way trade.", "The interesting point of that is not only are we the Americans’ third-largest trading partner—Mexico, China and us—the fact is, it’s almost two-way. It’s almost fifty-fifty, compared to one-way in Mexico and one-way in China. It is a two-way trade here. But not only is it $500 billion a year in two-way trade, we are the number one trading partner to 17 US states. We’re the number two trading partner to 11 more US states.", "The Premier talks about adopting a Can-Am, Canadian-American, approach. Speaker, again: continue to bet big on Ontario." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Peter Tabuns", "text": [ "To the Premier: Every year, workers in Ontario are hospitalized because of heat stress. Some of them may die. They deserve protection from injury and death. Today, our party will be introducing a bill to provide workers with on-the-job protection from heat stress and stroke.", "1140", "The Premier could increase protections for workers right now. The OFL supports this bill. Will he vote for it?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Labour and member for Ajax." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "Worker safety is a top priority for our ministry. Every worker in Ontario deserves to be safe and protected from workplace hazards, including heat stress. Under OHSA, employers and supervisors have a duty to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker, including the protection in hot environments.", "The employer should establish a heat-stress control plan for the summer to manage job risk associated with high temperatures and humidity. Our ministry provided $250,000 in funding to the occupational health clinics for Ontario workers to develop a stress-test tool kit to support workers to address the heat conditions in their workplaces, asses the risk for heat stress and be proactive to take steps to protect workers.", "Every worker in Ontario has the right to refuse work they believe to be unsafe and are encouraged to report their conditions to health and safety." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Supplementary? The member for Thunder Bay–Superior North." ] }, { "speaker": "MPP Lise Vaugeois", "text": [ "The member knows full well that precariously employed workers, and even workers with relatively secure jobs, are not going to risk their livelihood by refusing to work when it is too hot to work safely. Worker protection must be proactive and be the responsibility of the employer, who has the ability to provide these protections and safeguards.", "Will the government support our legislation to protect the lives of workers today?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "Ontario continues to have a strong health and safety record, and our ministry is committed to maintaining these standards for all workers in our province. We have a preventative, proactive approach to prevent workplace hazards and enforce OHSA for the protection of safety of all. Our strategy for occupational health and safety programs, Prevention Works, aims to continue to support Ontario, and we remain a leader in occupational health and safety.", "We will continue to protect workers and make sure our province remains the best place to work, live and raise a family." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Stephen Blais", "text": [ "Mr. Speaker, here in Ontario, the most prosperous province in the country, there are 2.5 million of our neighbours without a family doctor, and that number is only getting bigger. This Conservative government has increased the provincial debt by over $100 billion, so we have to wonder where all that money is going.", "In Ottawa, there are at least 160,000 residents without a family doctor. Residents like Theresa, who spent years on wait-lists for a doctor to help manage her yet-undiagnosed medical issue. She finally got rostered; three months later, the doctor promptly left Ontario for greener pastures somewhere else in Canada. Theresa is now spending her time bouncing between walk-in clinics and putting her employment in jeopardy while she awaits yet another family doctor. There are millions of stories like Theresa’s.", "In the most prosperous province in the country, with a government that spends billions like it’s Monopoly money, why are so many Ontarians like Theresa stuck without a family doctor?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Essex and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Anthony Leardi", "text": [ "Of course, people like Theresa need primary care and deserve primary care. We want to provide that to everybody in Ontario. In fact, approximately 90% of the residents in Ontario have access to primary care and are connected with primary care. Some of that is provided by the fantastic nurse practitioners in the province of Ontario.", "I note, once again, a Liberal member has stood up and refused to acknowledge that nurse practitioners actually deliver primary care. I don’t know why the Liberals don’t have any recognition of nurse practitioners, but let’s talk a little bit more about that. There are 296 interprofessional primary care teams in Ontario with nurse practitioners, serving four million clients. Why won’t the Liberals recognize that? What have they got against nurse practitioners? Nurse practitioners are delivering great care, patient-focused care, team-based care. We believe in that. Why don’t the Liberals?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Ottawa South will come to order. The Minister of Transportation will come to order.", "Supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Stephen Blais", "text": [ "Mr. Speaker, do you know what? This government will blame whomever they want. They might even go back and blame Tommy Douglas for creating medicare, Mr. Speaker. But they’ve had six years to get it done, and the problem is worse now than when they started: 2,000 people getting health care every day in the hallway; 200,000 people waiting for surgery or a diagnostic procedure; 11,000 of those people dying while they wait.", "In the Premier’s own backyard, in the great state of Etobicoke, there are 93,000 people without a family doctor. That’s one in four residents of the Premier’s riding without a doctor, Mr. Speaker. By the time the next election is scheduled, those 93,000 people will join over four million Ontarians without a family doctor.", "The government has had six years to get it done and make things better, but it’s only gotten worse. Can the Premier tell us, and all residents of Ontario, why he thinks we should give him even more time to make it worse?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The Minister of Transportation will come to order. The Minister of Red Tape Reduction will come to order. The Minister of Long-Term Care will come to order.", "The Premier may reply." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Doug Ford", "text": [ "Mr. Speaker, maybe the member from Orléans could answer the question: Why did their party, when they were in power—they cut residency spots, as we’ve increased them by 40%. You never built any medical schools, and we have TMU, we have York, we have U of T. We’ve added seats in a northern university and in Ottawa, right in your own backyard.", "Why didn’t the previous Liberal government build a new hospital in your area? Because you never did. We are building the second-largest hospital in Canada in their area.", "I want to know, through the member: Why did you fire nurses? Why did you fire nurses under the Liberal government? As we brought on 80,000 new nurses, 30,000 more nurses in colleges and—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Thank you.", "Stop the clock. The Premier will take his seat. And I’ll remind the Premier to make his comments through the Chair when he’s answering questions. Thank you very much.", "Start the clock. The next question." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Tyler Allsopp", "text": [ "My question is for the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. Our government has deep respect and gratitude for the extraordinary courage and tremendous sacrifices our veterans have made in service to our country. But, Speaker, we also recognize the complex challenges veterans often face when transitioning back into civilian life. Many of them continue to face significant hurdles finding stable, meaningful employment, including in my riding of Bay of Quinte, as we’re host to CFB Trenton and all the great men and women who serve there. Today and every day, thank you for your service.", "Our government must continue to support Ontario’s veterans and ensure they have access to the resources they need to build rewarding, long-term careers after their service. In light of these challenges, Speaker, could the minister tell the House what our government is doing to support our veterans and to facilitate their successful integration into Ontario’s civilian economy?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Ajax and parliamentary assistant." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "Thank you to the men and women that serve our country. Ontario’s veterans have a wealth of skills that can directly be translated into so many sectors within our economy. Part of this is our skilled trades. Our ministry is committed to creating clear pathways for veterans into these roles.", "We’re investing millions in creating opportunities and pathways for our veterans, our heroes. For example, our government is investing $3 million over three years in Helmets to Hardhats Canada, a registered non-profit organization that provides second career opportunities in the construction industry to those in military—safety and training. They provide peer counselling for serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces, veterans and military families.", "This investment will help hundreds of Canadian Armed Forces members transition into civilian life and prepare for rewarding and new careers in the construction sector. Services will help fill a gap in Ontario’s employment and training resources while addressing the unique needs and experiences of veterans—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Thank you very much.", "And the supplementary?", "1150" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Tyler Allsopp", "text": [ "I want to thank the parliamentary assistant for highlighting these crucial supports for our veterans and for all the great work that she does.", "While job training is invaluable, we recognize that veterans often need more personalized assistance to navigate the intricacies of Ontario’s job market. Adjusting to civilian life can present unique challenges, and it’s essential that our government provides resources that are relevant, effective and directly informed by the veterans’ own experiences and insights. By involving veterans in these discussions, we can ensure that Ontario is delivering meaningful support that will allow our veterans to not only secure employment but also grow, thrive and advance in their chosen careers over the long term.", "Speaker, can the parliamentary assistant please elaborate on our government’s efforts to engage directly with veterans to help us identify which career development resources are most beneficial to them?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Patrice Barnes", "text": [ "Thank you to the member again for that question. It gives me the opportunity to highlight our government’s unwavering support for veterans and their families.", "We know that, for veterans, transitioning into civilian life—and, for their families, relocating in Ontario—can bring unique challenges, particularly when it comes to employment. Our government has taken real, decisive action to address these challenges through comprehensive consultations. We have listened directly to the veterans and military spouses about the employment barriers that they face.", "We have implemented the Soldiers’ Aid Commission, which is also essential in our strategy for providing critical financial support to veterans and their families who need it the most. Whether it’s housing, specialized equipment, mental health resources or employment support, we’re making sure veterans have access to the resources necessary for a stable, successful transition to civilian life." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Sol Mamakwa", "text": [ "Meegwetch, Speaker.", "Remarks in Anishininiimowin.", "The chief and leadership from Aamjiwnaang First Nation are here today. Aamjiwnaang has endured more than a century of environmental racism, as industrial pollution has turned their land into one of Canada’s most polluted areas.", "Speaker, Aamjiwnaang has asked the Lambton industry meteorological alert air quality regulation to be updated for years now. Can the minister explain why these regulations have not been updated?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "To reply, the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement." ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Todd J. McCarthy", "text": [ "I’m pleased to answer the question as Acting Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks this morning.", "Our government’s dedication to protecting human health and the environment is clear, particularly when it comes to First Nations and our shared goals. I can tell the member, through you, Speaker, that Ministers Khanjin and Rickford spoke with Chief Plain in April of this year, have addressed the concerns of Aamjiwnaang and will continue to do so, and welcome further consultation and participation and exchanges.", "In fact, we introduced a new regulation to set out strict benzene emissions limits for INEOS and introduced the ability for the province to levy fines for exceedances. We took immediate action last spring to hold the company responsible by issuing four provincial officers’ orders requiring them to address benzene exceedances. In early May 2024, we issued a notice of suspension and amended the facility’s environmental compliance authorization. They are out of business, and they will remain out of business." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The supplementary question." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Sol Mamakwa", "text": [ "The regulations have not been updated. That’s the issue today.", "Speaker, for decades, both Ontario and Canada have ignored the severe impact of pollution on the health of Aamjiwnaang. What they do is, they sidestep their responsibility by claiming the issue falls outside of their jurisdictions.", "Again, Aamjiwnaang are here because this government needs to take the real steps to address the industrial harms threatening the ways of life of their people. Will this request be honoured or ignored?", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Members will please take their seats.", "Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement" ] }, { "speaker": "Hon. Todd J. McCarthy", "text": [ "Again, through you, Mr. Speaker: As the Acting Minister of the Environment, I can say clearly that we recognize Aamjiwnaang First Nation’s long-standing concerns about the impacts of air pollution in their community, and we share the same goal—the common cause—of a clean environment. That’s why our ministry continues to meet with that community on a regular basis to discuss these concerns and ensure they are addressed appropriately.", "In April 2024, we added two additional real-time benzene monitors at priority locations in that community to ensure 24/7 air monitoring to support the community. We are fully committed to working with that First Nations community and all First Nations communities, local health agencies and industries, on timely resolutions to air quality concerns. This is a common cause for all. We are all in this together. Count on us to continue to dialogue and work toward solutions." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "MmeLucille Collard", "text": [ "When I was first elected, back in 2020, the very first person to walk through my office door in Ottawa was someone looking for a family doctor. Four years later, my office is only getting more of those calls every day.", "Just recently, I had an elderly couple contact me, obviously very distressed, because their doctor was leaving the profession due to burnout. This couple requires regular care and medication renewals to help manage the serious health conditions they’re dealing with. Now they’re worried they won’t be able to get those medication renewals and the care that they need on time. This situation is only one example of a long list of people who struggle, who worry and who are asking me to try to convince the government to do whatever is necessary to ensure access to timely care.", "It’s been six years since the government was elected. Will the Premier please tell the 22,000 people in my riding of Ottawa–Vanier and the 2.5 million people across Ontario who do not have a family doctor when they will finally be able to get the primary health care service they need—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Essex and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Anthony Leardi", "text": [ "When the Liberals ran the government, they reduced the number of doctors being trained in the province of Ontario. We’re not going to repeat that mistake. They also caused nurses to get laid off and fired. We’re not going to repeat that mistake, either. Rather, what we’re going to do is continue connecting people to primary care.", "Approximately 90% of everybody in Ontario has a connection to a primary care provider. That is according to CIHI, which is the statistics agency that records those facts. CIHI also says that Ontario is doing better than any other province in the country. We’re doing better than Alberta, better than Manitoba, better than Saskatchewan and better than all of the other provinces.", "But Mr. Speaker, we’re not going to stop there. We’ve hired Jane Philpott, a recognized expert in the field, to continue this progress in connecting people in the province of Ontario to primary care.", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Ottawa South will come to order. The Minister of Colleges and Universities will come to order.", "Supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "MmeLucille Collard", "text": [ "Monsieur le Président, pouvoir communiquer clairement avec son médecin est tellement important pour des raisons qui sont très évidentes. Malheureusement, pour les francophones en Ontario, trouver un médecin capable de leur fournir des soins dans leur langue est vraiment rendu difficile.", "L’exemple le plus simple auquel je peux penser, c’est ma mère de 80 ans qui comprend un peu l’anglais, mais jusqu’à un certain point. Elle ne pourrait pas décrire ses symptômes dans la langue anglaise. Le risque, pour elle, c’est de ne pas pouvoir avoir accès à un médecin bilingue ou francophone et elle pourrait donc être victime d’une erreur de diagnostic ou d’un traitement inapproprié. C’est le cas d’un nombre important de Franco-Ontariens parce que nous n’avons pas un système robuste qui permet d’identifier des médecins capables de travailler en français.", "La ministre des Affaires francophones est responsable de l’offre des services sous la Loi sur les services en français. Peut-elle nous dire comment le gouvernement compte s’assurer que chaque Franco-Ontarien peut trouver un médecin de famille francophone ou, au moins, bilingue?" ] }, { "speaker": "M. Anthony Leardi", "text": [ "Monsieur le Président, comme j’ai dit, nous n’allons pas répéter les fautes et les erreurs du Parti libéral. Nous n’allons pas répéter ces fautes et ces erreurs. Nous allons continuer à entraîner des docteurs dans la province de l’Ontario, y inclus des nouveaux docteurs dans les universités comme le « Northern Ontario School of Medicine », où les docteurs vont aider les personnes du Nord à accéder aux soins primaires.", "1200", "J’aimerais ajouter que, dans la ville d’Ottawa, nous allons ajouter 6 400 personnes qui peuvent trouver des soins primaires dans la ville d’Ottawa, ce qui est très important, parce que ce sont des personnes qui ont besoin de soins primaires, qui peuvent accéder aux soins primaires dans la clinique qui s’appelle « Ottawa Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic »." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Laura Smith", "text": [ "My question is to the Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism. Hate has no place in our province, but sadly, it continues to rear its ugly head time and time again. Whether it’s anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism or any form of hatred, it leaves deep scars on our communities.", "Ontario is home to so many people of so many backgrounds and beliefs. These differences make us stronger, not weaker.", "But when people feel unsafe in their place of worship, cultural centre, or college or university, it shakes the very foundation of our society. Ontarians deserve better. They deserve to practise their faith and live their culture without fear. That’s why it’s so important for our government to act.", "Speaker, can the minister please tell the House how our government is taking action to protect faith-based and cultural communities from hate?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The parliamentary assistant and the member from Mississauga–Erin Mills." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Sheref Sabawy", "text": [ "My colleague is right. Hate has no place in Ontario, and our government will not tolerate any form of hate in our province—very simply, no tolerance for intolerance. Everyone—regardless of their faith, how they worship God or where they came from—deserves to feel safe and secure at our province’s places of worship and cultural organizations.", "For example, after the tragedy of October 7, we began to see the concerning rise of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Working with our local Jewish and Muslim communities, our government acted swiftly, investing an additional $20 million in the anti-hate security and prevention grant program in 2023 and 2024 to ensure Ontarians can practise their faith safely, securely and free from intimidation, harassment or hate.", "Speaker, these are more than just dollar amounts. We continue to see the real impacts of this grant in local communities across Ontario: 1,682 unique faith-based and cultural organizations have been funded through this grant, with the majority of them reported that the grant helped provide an increased sense of safety for their places of worship and reduced incidents of hate—" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Thank you very much.", "And the supplementary question?" ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Laura Smith", "text": [ "People should not have to look over their shoulder when they’re praying or celebrating their culture. Far too many people still face these threats, harassment and violence simply because of who they are, where they come from or how they worship. Places of worship, cultural centres and colleges and universities should be sanctuaries where people feel safe and welcome.", "Sadly, certain individuals attempt to disrupt this sense of safety, and we need to ensure that every Ontarian, no matter their faith or background, can live without fear. Our communities have called for more supports to protect these spaces.", "Speaker, can the parliamentary assistant please tell us how this grant will continue to support our communities and help them stay safe?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Sheref Sabawy", "text": [ "I appreciate my colleague’s concerns. Our government remains committed to working with our local communities to ensure places of worship are protected and that those who are attending feel safe and secure.", "That’s why I’m glad to share that on October 31, applications opened for this year’s Anti-Hate Security and Prevention Grant and will be open until December 2.", "Speaker, this grant has served diverse communities across our province, including Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Indigenous, Sikh and LGBTQ organizations. Funding from this grant has been used on a variety of safety initiatives, including installing security cameras, better locks and doors, reinforcing windows, undertaking security assessments and more. There is a clear need to continue providing the resources to safeguard these institutions, and our government remains committed to doing just that. We will not stop working to build a stronger, safer and more thriving province where everyone is able to freely and securely worship and express their faith." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Tom Rakocevic", "text": [ "My question is for the Premier. Speaker, construction of the Finch West LRT has not been easy for my community. Over the many years, there have been delays; lane closures within active construction; never-ending traffic disruption, both vehicle and pedestrian accidents, including a tragic fatality; a collapsed underground parking garage; a daycare flooded with sewage; and more. As you can imagine, the news that construction of the Finch West LRT has finally ended was greeted with exhausted relief by my community. But there’s still no opening date.", "When will the Finch West LRT be open so we can get Finch moving?" ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Hastings–Lennox and Addington and parliamentary assistant." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Ric Bresee", "text": [ "It’s incredibly obvious that when the Liberals and the NDP were in power, they built absolutely nothing. They had a chance to build rapid transit. They had a chance to build our highways, and they simply failed to do so. Our transit riders got stuck on a regular basis. The Finch LRT will be giving those in northwest Toronto what they wanted for a very long time: a transit system that offers more choices to travel on their own schedule. It will connect the Finch West subway station to Humber College, and it will reduce the TTC bus traffic on Finch Avenue West, particularly during peak travel times.", "I’m happy to say that testing is currently on schedule, and we hope to have an update for the people soon. We will keep building—", "Interjections." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Ottawa Centre will come to order.", "The supplementary question? The member for Toronto–St. Paul’s." ] }, { "speaker": "MPP Jill Andrew", "text": [ "While this Premier continues to have his temper tantrum on Toronto—stripping away municipalities’ decision-making powers and wasting taxpayer dollars unnecessarily ripping up bike lanes—he continues to fail at the very basics of completing our Eglinton LRT, which, if ever opened, would actually address gridlock in our community of St. Paul’s. This Premier has had over six years to finish this transit project cutting across our midtown and Little Jamaica community.", "Recently the Premier told the media he’d get involved “as a last resort” if delays persist. Then despite the project being absurdly over budget and years delayed, he continued to literally fanboy over the Metrolinx CEO, Phil Verster—literally.", "So, Speaker, my question is to the Premier: Will this Premier stop fanboying over failed management and give my community residents and small businesses transit that works?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Ric Bresee", "text": [ "The Eglinton West extension will bring even more rapid transit to communities all along Eglinton Avenue from the east end of Toronto and into Mississauga. This seven-stop subway project will support as many as 4,600 jobs annually and establish connectivity with the airport employment zone, Canada’s second-largest employment hub.", "Our government is focused on rapidly building the transit projects that Ontarians need, and our plan is working. Tunnelling is halfway complete, and under Premier Ford’s leadership, we are full steam ahead and getting it done." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "There are a number of members, apparently, that have points of order.", "We’ll start with the government House leader, under standing order 59." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Steve Clark", "text": [ "Under standing order 59, Speaker: On Monday, November 18, a government bill will be introduced. In the afternoon, there will be opposition day number 3.", "On Tuesday, November 19, both in the morning and in the afternoon, there will be second reading of a government bill to be introduced; and at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 19, there will be private member’s notice of motion number 135 in the name of the member for Burlington.", "On Wednesday, November 20, both morning and afternoon, it will be second reading of a government bill to be introduced. During afternoon routine proceedings, a government bill will be introduced; and at 6 p.m., private member’s notice of motion number 136 in the name of the member for Markham–Unionville.", "On Thursday, November 21, both in the morning and in the afternoon, it will be second reading of a government bill to be introduced." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Toronto–St. Paul’s has informed me she has a point of order." ] }, { "speaker": "MPP Jill Andrew", "text": [ "I ask that we stand and observe a moment of silence to remember the members of the No. 2 Construction Battalion, the largest Black military unit in Canadian history. Their service went back to the American Revolution and continued through the War of 1812, the rebellions of 1837 and 1838 to the start of the First World War.", "I ask that we remember these veterans and honour them and their efforts in spite of the racism they experienced here at home and overseas. Today, the city of Toronto will unveil a Heritage Toronto plaque in honour of them at St. Andrew’s Church.", "Lest we forget." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Toronto–St. Paul’s is seeking unanimous consent of the House for a moment’s silence in memory of the No. 2 Construction Battalion. Agreed? Agreed.", "Members will please rise.", "The House observed a moment’s silence." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Thank you very much. Members may take their seats." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Next, the member for Kitchener Centre on a point of order." ] }, { "speaker": "Ms. Aislinn Clancy", "text": [ "I just want to welcome Ashwin Annamalai and his mom and dad who are visiting. He’s a wonderful leader, always speaking up, fighting against racism in our community, fighting in support of climate action and action to address the housing crisis for the next generation. Thank you for all you do for our community, and welcome to your House." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "The member for Simcoe–Grey on a point of order." ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Brian Saunderson", "text": [ "It’s my pleasure to rise to welcome to the House a mayor from my community, Brian Smith—welcome, Mayor Smith and his team. They’re here to work with the province. We had an excellent meeting this morning on moving his municipality forward, and I want to invite everyone to the event in room 230 to celebrate Wasaga Beach.", "I’d also like to recognize, Speaker, the birthday of our government House leader and invite him to come and join the celebration." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Call in the members. This is a five-minute bell.", "The division bells rang from 1214 to 1219." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I’m going to ask the members to please take their seats.", "On October 23, 2024, Mr. Sarkaria moved second reading of Bill 212, An Act to enact two Acts and amend various Acts with respect to highways, broadband-related expropriation and other transportation-related matters.", "All those in favour of the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "All those opposed to the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk." ] }, { "speaker": "The Clerk of the Assembly (Mr. Trevor Day)", "text": [ "The ayes are 63; the nays are 37." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "I declare the motion carried.", "Second reading agreed to." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Pursuant to the order of the House dated November 6, 2024, the bill is referred to the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "It is now my responsibility to ask the pages to assemble.", "I am very glad to have this chance to say a word of thanks to our legislative pages. Our pages are smart, trustworthy and hard-working. They’re indispensable to the effective functioning of this chamber and we are indeed fortunate to have had them here the last three weeks.", "To our pages: You depart having made many new friends, with a greater understanding of parliamentary democracy and memories that will last a lifetime. Each of you will now go home and continue your studies, and no doubt will contribute to your communities, your province and your country in important ways. We expect great things from all of you. Who knows? Maybe some of you someday will take your seats in this House as members or work here as staff. But no matter where your path leads you, we wish you well.", "I will ask all members to please join me in thanking this great group of legislative pages.", "Applause." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "There being no further business at this time, this House stands in recess until 1 p.m.", "The House recessed from 1225 to 1300." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.", "First reading agreed to." ] }, { "speaker": "The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott)", "text": [ "Would the member for Toronto–Danforth like to briefly explain his bill?" ] }, { "speaker": "Mr. Peter Tabuns", "text": [ "Thank you, Speaker. As you’re well aware, workers in Ontario are getting sick from, and in some cases dying from, heat stress. They need—they deserve—protection. The Ontario Federation of Labour has been working with me on a framework to provide that legislative protection. This bill incorporates that framework." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "MPP Lise Vaugeois", "text": [ "This petition is to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and it’s entitled “Stop Ford’s Health Care Privatization Plan.” It is signed by many people from my region of Thunder Bay–Superior North who are very concerned with the lack of funding, particularly for family health teams, in our region. I fully support this. We know that funding needs to be going into public health care and not being poured into for-profit health care.", "That is the basis of this petition. I thoroughly support it and will hand it to page Graham." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "MPP Jill Andrew", "text": [ "This petition is titled “Stop” the Conservative government’s “Health Care Privatization Plan.” I’m proud to stand and support this petition. Essentially, community members in Toronto–St. Paul’s and across Ontario are concerned because 2.5 million Ontarians don’t have access to doctors and they’re having to clog up our emergency rooms. That’s, of course, if you have an ER that’s open in your community.", "The people who have signed this petition are asking the Conservative government to invest handsomely in our public health care system. They’re also asking the government to remember that mental health is also part of our health care and that we have to take a whole-person approach, a whole-community approach, to keeping people healthy, well and safe in their communities.", "I absolutely support this petition. I’m affixing my signature to it and I will hand it over to Ziggy." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Peggy Sattler", "text": [ "I would like to thank the many Londoners who signed this petition calling on the Legislative Assembly to bring back real rent control. Speaker, as you know, buildings that were constructed in Ontario after November 2018 are exempt from any rent control requirements. We’re seeing a lot of people in London who are moving into one of these newer units and have a lease agreement for a year, and then they get a notice of a huge rent increase that they can’t afford.", "This petition calls on the Legislative Assembly to protect tenants from those predatory rent increases and pass legislation to make sure that all renters can live in affordable homes, safe from those untenable increases in rent.", "I fully support this petition. I’ll affix my signature and send it to the table with page June." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Mr. Dave Smith", "text": [ "I have a petition about the carbon tax. We know that this is a tax that is adding to inflation and raising the cost of living for many people. These are concerns in my riding. Many people have come to me with it. We know that the impacts of it are disproportionately affecting middle-class and lower-income families across Ontario, and this really is making the situation worse for many people that way.", "Therefore, we urge everyone in the Legislature of Ontario to step forward and oppose the carbon tax that the federal Liberals have put on us, because it is making life more difficult for the people in Ontario.", "I fully endorse this petition. I will sign it and give it to page Rishabh to take to the table." ] } ]

[ { "speaker": "Ms. Bhutila Karpoche", "text": [ "I have a petition here entitled “Save the Ontario Science Centre.” Speaker, I have to say that I’ve had hundreds of signatures from my constituents, and I know that the Ontario Science Centre petition online has gathered over 100,000 signatures from Ontarians across the province.", "This petition is, of course, calling on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to invest in repairs for the Ontario Science Centre. It is a beloved institution. It is a heritage site. For 50 years, it has helped children develop curiosity, a love for science.", "This is a world-class science and cultural institution, and the current plan of the Conservative government is to demolish it. It’s an architecturally significant landmark, as well. The new science centre would be half the size. This is also a community hub, serving the communities of Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park—communities that were not consulted about the plans for the science centre.", "Speaker, revitalization of the Ontario Science Centre is something that is worth investing in. It wouldn’t cost as much as the government’s current plan does. So, again, we really need to make sure that we don’t lose what we have and that we invest in the repairs and we save the Ontario Science Centre.", "I could not agree with this petition more. I will affix my signature to it and send it with the page." ] } ]