Question Period: Monday, May 10
What was asked and (sometimes) answered
With Premier DOUG FORD and Long-Term Care Minister MERRILEE FULLERTON absent from the chamber, it fell to House Leader PAUL CALANDRA to answer lead questions from Opposition NDP Leader ANDREA HORWATH — who hammered the PCs on the Globe’s bombshell report revealing dozens of residents in hard-hit nursing homes died from neglect and dehydration, not the coronavirus.
(Ford’s office said he was in meetings all day. Don’t expect to see Fullerton back in the House before May 20 because she isn’t included in the current cohort of PCs — despite being part of both previously — and there was no explanation provided for that. MPPs are doing House duty in shifts as a Covid-safety precaution and to allow for social distancing.)
HIGHLIGHTS: “They died when all they needed was water and a wipe down” — Clearing the surgical backlog — Sarkaria in hot water over vax efficacy — Dear Justin, tighten up the borders — Fixing “half-rate, bargain sick leave” — Keeping legislative tabs on LTC progress — An “ideological antipathy toward child care” — “Cruel joke” on the North vs. “Minister of Thought Control” — Heckling over “xenophobic” attack ads — Inoculations in York South—Weston moving like molasses — Throwback to last Spring Break, when Ford OK’ed vacations abroad — 905’s sky-high auto insurance.
“They died when all they needed was ‘water and a wipe down’”
TRANSCRIPT — Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, my first question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care, so perhaps somebody on the government side will be able to respond.
The long-term-care commission report, as we all know, has been public for some time. The report has some pretty interesting points in it. One of which is, “26 residents died due to dehydration prior to the arrival of the Canadian Armed Forces team ... They died when all they need was ‘water and a wipe down.’” That’s from the submission that the Canadian Armed Forces report made to the commission.
The question that I have for the Minister of Long-Term Care is the same one I asked for over a week now and still have not had an answer to. The question is: When did the Minister of Long-Term Care learn that seniors in our long-term-care system were dying from neglect and dehydration?
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond, the government House leader.
Hon. Paul Calandra: Obviously, once we heard of this, the ministry reached out to the commission at the same time. The Chief Coroner has been engaged. We’ve ask for full documents with respect to all the deaths in long-term care and, of course, we’ll be acting on the recommendations of the Chief Coroner.
The Speaker: Supplementary?
Horwath: Speaker, the Globe and Mail has a story today that says pretty clearly that those 26 deaths that occurred in a long-term-care centre in Downsview, called Downsview Long Term Care Centre—but those deaths also occurred in other homes. In fact, the CAF says this in their report: COVID “fatalities pale in comparison to deaths from other causes,” like dehydration, neglect or starvation.
Cathy Parkes, who lost her father in Orchard Villa to COVID-19, says this: “If I had had my father living at home with me and I didn’t feed him and I didn’t give him water and I didn’t give him medication or send him to the hospital, I would be criminally charged.”
So, my question to the Minister of Long-Term Care is when did she know that seniors in long-term care, in our province here in Ontario, were dying of neglect and dehydration?
The Speaker: Government House leader?
Calandra: Again, as I just said, once the final report was issued by the commission of course the ministry did reach out to the commission at the same time. The chief coroner has been engaged to look at all deaths in long-term care, as I’m sure all members would expect. Once that documentation has been received and thoroughly reviewed by both the coroner and by the ministry, we will be acting on recommendations that we received.
The Speaker: And the final supplementary.
Horwath: The minister’s notebook was obtained by the commission. One of the notes that was found therein was written by the minister on April 17, 2020. She wrote, “Military plan needed, get them in within 24-48 hours.” That was on April 17. It took 12 whole days for the Canadian Armed Forces to arrive at Hawthorne Place, and in fact it wasn’t until early June that they showed up at Orchard Villa. So my question is when did the Minister of Long-Term Care learn that Ontario seniors living in long-term care were dying of neglect and dehydration?
Calandra: Obviously we’re very grateful for the work that the Canadian Armed Forces did in assisting us. It’s one of a whole series of measures that the government took during the first wave. As you know, it was a very challenging time. We are of course engaged with the chief coroner. As members would expect, all deaths in long-term-care homes will be reviewed by the chief coroner. Once we seek that additional documentation, Mr. Speaker, we will be taking action.
Clearing the surgical backlog will take $1.3B and 3.5 years: FAO
Horwath: My next question is for the Minister of Health. Speaker, this morning the Financial Accountability Office issued a report that talks about the surgical wait backlog that’s waiting here in Ontario. In fact, the chief financial officer says this: It’s a 419,200 surgical backlog that we have right now in this province, as well as 2.5 million people waiting for diagnostic procedures as of this September alone. Speaker, this is pretty frightening. This is a matter of life and death. These are people who are waiting in pain, anxiety and worry about the procedures and the surgeries that have been postponed. Where is the minister’s plan to get rid of, to deal with, the surgical and procedural backlogs in our province?
Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you to the leader of the official opposition for the question. We are aware that there are a number of surgical procedures, diagnostic procedures and surgeries that have been delayed between the first and second waves, and now during this third wave. However, it should also be noted that since the beginning of this pandemic, there have been over 420,000 surgeries that have been performed.
There is an analysis that is done on anyone with a significant problem, be it cancer care or cardiac care. If they need surgery, if it’s a life-and-death procedure they will get that surgery. But for other procedures that can be delayed, unfortunately, they have to be. I know this isn’t great news for people who have been waiting for a long-time, but we simply need the space right now for COVID patients.
But we do have a plan. We had plan since the beginning of this pandemic.
The Speaker: The supplementary question.
Horwath: Well, Speaker, 419,200 surgeries is a heck of a lot of surgeries; 2.5 million diagnostic procedures, that’s a heck a lot of procedures. The FAO predicts that it’s going to take at least three years—at least three years—to clear these backlogs, the surgery backlog particularly. In British Columbia, 95% of the backlogged surgeries were cleared as of just this past March, 2021.
The FAO found, unfortunately, that instead of spending the money necessary with a real plan to reduce the backlog, this government has been cutting corners and has barely funded half of the necessary resources, the necessary money, to clear the backlog. So my question to the minister is: Why is she failing to unveil a real plan to clear the backlogs and refusing to invest the necessary money?
Elliott: Well, in fact our government does have a plan and we have committed the resources. The plan has already been indicated to you, as the official opposition, and to the people of Ontario. Last fall, we spent an extra $200 million in order to reduce the surgical backlogs. This was increased with our budget this year; part of the $1.8-billion investment was another $300 million to reduce the backlog. That’s $500 million to engage in surgeries during evenings and on weekends, to make sure that we can increase the volume of surgeries that we’re able to do.
We’ve also set out a surgical wait-list across a number of hospitals on a regional basis so that we can use every single operating room, and that is there a procedure whereby some surgeries could be transferred from one hospital to another, if they have the space. We also instituted a surgical smoothing program.
All of these programs are working. We have had to postpone them, but the good news is that our numbers in ICU are at 828 today. That’s not a great number by normal standards, but it is going down, and as it goes down—
The Speaker: Thank you. The final supplementary.
Horwath: The independent FAO has shown in their report that this government is failing to invest the necessary funds by almost double. So if they doubled what they’ve invested, maybe we’d get some of those surgeries cleared quicker.
But you know what that means: Lives will remain on the line here. In fact, folks might remember a woman who was waiting for cancer surgery, and she said this to CityNews recently how she feels with her surgery being delayed, “It’s frustrating; it’s terrifying.”
The government has known for months this was happening. They tabled the budget that shorted the resources necessary to clear the backlogs in surgical procedures and diagnostic procedures. When will the government make the commitment to double the amount that they’ve invested and ensure that there is a public plan that shows how they’re going to get this problem dealt with?
The Speaker: Minister of Health.
Elliott: In fact, last year, 88 per cent of our hospitals achieved surgical targets using the plan we’ve already set out, which we will get back to as soon as we’re able, but we have to put $500 million into just expanding the hours for these surgeries to be done. We’ve also invested the money to create over 3,400 new beds in hospitals and 285 more intensive care beds. We’ve also invested more into home and community — several hundred million dollars — so that those people who don’t need to be in hospital can then go home and have procedures and the help they need, whether it’s nursing services or personal support workers.
So, in addition to the $500 million that I’ve already discussed, we’ve put hundreds of millions of dollars more — over $5 billion into our health care system since the beginning. While it is very unfortunate — I know people have been waiting a long time to have their surgeries done. This is something we are looking at on a daily basis because we are also anxious to make sure that we can get back to reducing that backlog and getting people back to their normal lives and work.
The Speaker: Thank you. The next question?
Sarkaria in hot water for citing questionable Qatar study on vax efficacy, Calandra blames the feds
Mr. Gurratan Singh (NDP): My question is to the Premier. When everyone should be doing everything they can to get vaccines to COVID-19 hot spots and to fight vaccine hesitancy, the Conservative government’s confusing and mixed messages aren’t helping anyone.
On Thursday, the Conservative Associate Minister of Small Business confused Ontarians by suggesting that the Pfizer vaccine, the same vaccine that Ontarians received over 4.5-million doses of is not as effective as it could be, despite the fact that the Conservative associate minister represents Brampton, a city that is one of the worst hit by the COVID-19 crisis in this entire country where folks know they’re not receiving as many vaccines as they need to protect lives.
Why is the Conservative associate minister going out of his way to confuse people about the effectiveness of this vaccine when communities like Brampton need it?
The Speaker: To reply, the government House leader.
Calandra: Thank you. I don’t think the minister is doing anything of the sort. The minister from Brampton is highlighting the fact that we remain very troubled by the inexcusable reluctance of the federal government to act on our borders. We have highlighted a number of issues with borders. We’ve seen the variants of concern which continue to come through our borders—even this past weekend, significantly more.
This is very troubling, and we need the federal government to live up to its responsibility to secure our international borders so that as we continue to hit hot spots like Brampton, which has seen a significant increase in the amount of vaccinations that it’s been getting so that we can continue this good work. We need the federal government to simply step up and do what we have asked it to do; do what everybody is asking is to do: Close that border so that we can get these variants of concern under control, and I ask the member opposite to join with us in this. This is certainly not a partisan issue; we should all be concerned with what we’re seeing at our international borders.
The Speaker: The supplementary question.
Singh: Back to the Premier: Ontarians are smart. They listen to the science. They respect the expert doctors who have told them to take any vaccine available to them, and they know that after this Premier and this minister for small businesses failed to bring in enough paid sick days, failed to protect lives and protect small businesses, that the number one thing that they can do for themselves and their families to stay safe is to get vaccinated. But instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated, the associate minister is confusing people. The Pfizer vaccine isn’t the failure; the failure is that the associate minister and the Conservative government did not get vaccines into hot spot communities like mine in Brampton.
Why is the minister confusing people at this critical time when he could be protecting lives in Brampton by encouraging folks to get vaccinated and by ensuring that we’re getting as many vaccines as possible at this critical time in Brampton?
Calandra: Well, Mr. Speaker, I think if there was any failure, it continues to be a failure of the federal government to provide us early on with vaccines that were needed so that we could do more in hot spots. But despite that, despite the failing of the federal government to give us the appropriate vaccines in February, March and April, we have been able to redirect significant vaccinations into hot spots across this province. We have vaccinated over six million people in the province of Ontario. If there is another failing, it’s another failing of the federal government, which allowed these variants of concern to get into our borders in the first place. We have been calling on the federal government for months to close down the borders in advance of the UK variant making its way into the province of Ontario.
I would ask the honourable gentleman—if he wants to do the right thing for Brampton, if he wants to help us out in Peel, he can join with us in calling on the federal government to do the right thing, to close our international borders so that we can get control of this situation, because it’s not just vaccines; it’s about closing access to these variants of concern.
Friendly softball: Dear Justin, tighten up the borders
Mr. Stan Cho (PC): I want to pick up where the House leader just left off, because it’s very clear that stricter border measures help stop the spread of COVID-19 before it even gets here. We also know that every single case of COVID, of the variants, has started outside of this province. As the Solicitor General has said previously, there are yet no COVID variants that have originated from Ontario.
Speaker, as we begin yet another week with flights coming into Ontario’s airports with potentially more variants, my question to the Solicitor General: Can the Solicitor General remind this Legislature why stronger measures at our borders are essential to help stop the spread of COVID-19?
Hon. Sylvia Jones: Speaker, thank you to the member from Willowdale for raising this, because it is critically important that we understand where the variants are coming from and how they get into Ontario. In the last two weeks alone, we’ve had 43 domestic flights that have had at least one confirmed COVID case on them, and do you know how we found out? Not because the federal government is testing at our airports but, in fact, because those individuals rightfully went, booked an appointment, got the test, the test came back positive. But how many people did they interact with before they got that positive result back? We need to do a better job. We can do that with our federal partners if they would step up and actually test domestic travellers as they come into Ontario.
The Speaker: Supplementary question?
Cho: This is a frustrating for me and my constituents. Ontarians continue to make sacrifices to help defeat COVID-19 and try to return life back to normal. On mother’s day yesterday, Willowdalers made incredible sacrifices and weren’t able to celebrate with their families, and the variants are the biggest reason why we can’t back to normal life. The Solicitor General and so many members of our caucus have been fiercely advocating for these stronger measures at our borders, which we know are going to help stop the spread of these variants in Ontario.
So, back to the Solicitor General: Can she update this House on what the federal government’s response to our many letters has been so far?
Jones: Yes, unfortunately, I can share what the federal government responded with. Regrettably, Minister LeBlanc refused to address any of the specific concerns that were raised in our letters. First, we called on a ban on all non-essential travel, mandatory PCR testing for interprovincial travellers, an end to the loophole at our land borders, and for proper enforcement of hotel quarantining.
Speaker, we continue to be very clear, crystal clear, to the federal government. We’re imploring them to take stricter measures at the border. I encourage the Prime Minister to actually read the letters that we’ve sent and respond with the actions, or what they intend to do about it.
Fixing a “half-rate, bargain sick leave program”
Ms. Doly Begum (NDP): The Conservative government promised Ontarians the best sick days plan in North America, but what they have given us isn’t even what people asked for, let alone anywhere near what the best program in Canada would look like.
Mr. Speaker, the Yukon gives everyone 10 days of paid leave, no questions asked. Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC all have paid time off for vaccine appointments. PEI and Quebec have permanent paid sick leave programs, while ours expire in September. Many of the Conservatives will have taken away five paid sick days from Ontarians by the time their term is up, let alone providing the best sick leave.
My question is: How does this government ever expect to get this crisis in the highly infectious places like Scarborough under control, with a half-rate, bargain sick leave program?
The Speaker: To reply, the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development.
Hon. Monte McNaughton: I thank the member opposite for that question, but furthermore, I thank the member opposite and all the members in this Legislature for supporting our government’s solution to this, to bring forward a comprehensive plan of 23 paid sick days in the province of Ontario. We have committed to doubling the federal program from $500 a week to $1,000 a week and bringing in three paid sick days under the Employment Standards Act.
Mr. Speaker, we are the first province in the country to bring in paid sick days during COVID-19. We will continue to stand with workers every single day and all the people of this province until we defeat COVID-19.
The Speaker: Supplementary question.
Begum: While this government tries to deflect and distract the public and uses attack ads, really, and then blame the federal government or uses the federal government for their excuses, the feds wrote back and asked the province what they actually wanted to do, and they heard nothing from this government.
My question is, again: When is this government going to stop with the desperate deflection and start focusing on measures that would actually work, something that the experts have been calling for, like a paid sick days plan, or a support program for businesses and workers that actually helps these people instead of shutting down businesses? This government is dropping the ball on the vulnerable people of this province and our local businesses across this province. When will this government step up and act?
McNaughton: We are the very first province in Canada to bring forward sick leave during COVID-19…But all members, including the member opposite, supported our legislation and I’m proud to say that we passed this bill in record time—in about three hours, Mr. Speaker—so I thank the members of the NDP and the independent Liberals for supporting this legislation.
But, Mr. Speaker, the federal government has said to us, “How can we help?” We’ve got two requests: one, double the four weeks of paid sick leave from $500 a week to $1,000 a week, and secondly, secure our borders, secure our airports, stop the variants of concern from entering Ontario. If the federal government wants to be a partner, do those two things.
Keeping legislative tabs on LTC progress
Mr. John Fraser (Independent Liberal): This morning’s story in the Globe and Mail about deaths from dehydration in Ontario’s long-term-care homes is deeply disturbing to all of us. It’s been almost 10 days since the commission released its report, and the government has failed to commit firmly to any of the recommendations in it.
It’s clear to all of us that immediate and sustained action needs to happen, so my question is simple: Will the Premier commit to implementing the 85th recommendation of the long-term care commission’s final report, requiring the government to table a report in the Legislature outlining the progress they’ve made to implement the remaining recommendations in the report one year from now and again three years from now? A simple answer: yes or no?
The Speaker: To reply, the government House leader.
Calandra: Obviously we take the report very seriously. That’s why I would expect the honourable member would expect us taking a look at all of the recommendations and give them the attention that they deserve. I think what would have been helpful is that over the 15 years of the previous Liberal government—that’s four separate Liberal administrations—had they paid attention to long-term care, had they built long-term care, had they rebuilt some of those long-term care homes that were so desperately in need of upgrading, had they worked on a staffing strategy—had the Liberals done that for the 15 years and four administrations that preceded ours, we would not have been in the unfortunate position of having to play defence for a full year.
But right now, we’re on the offence in the province of the Ontario with six million vaccination doses into the people’s arms. We’re attacking COVID directly in the hot spots. We’re going into essential workplaces. The Minister of Labour has brought in a sick-day regime. We need the federal government to do its part to secure our borders, and we can put this behind us once and for all.
The Speaker: The supplementary question?
Fraser: Well, Speaker, it’s the easiest recommendation in the report for the government to enact right now. I don’t know why we couldn’t get a yes or no.
Last week, when talking about long-term care, the Premier said, and I quote, “It was a tragedy, but we’re going to fix it. This will never happen again — never happen again.” However, one year ago, the Premier also said an investigation had been launched into the report of the Canadian military. We found out last week that investigation was never launched. Nothing was ever turned over to police, and then we read in the Globe this morning — and a spokesperson for the Ministry of Long-Term Care says that could be criminal a year later.
Currently, there’s no legislative requirement for this government to enact recommendation 85. This afternoon, I’ll be putting forward legislation that will require the government to enact recommendation 85. Simple question: Will the government support that legislation: yes or no?
The Speaker: Government House leader.
Calandra: As I said, we will do what’s right by long-term care in this province, unlike the previous Liberal government which he was a member of… Whether it was ICU capacity, which they did nothing about, whether it was staffing strategy for our long-term care homes, whether it was rebuilding long-term care homes that were in desperate need of renovation and upgrading and whether it was adding more long-term care beds, on every single account the previous four Liberal governments over 15 years failed the people of the province of Ontario.
We moved quickly before the pandemic. Whether it was a staffing strategy, whether it was to build thousands of additional long-term care beds, whether it was increasing ICU capacity, increasing testing from 5,000 to 75,000 a day, we are on the offence to put this behind us once and for all. We need the help of the federal government on our borders, but Canadians and Ontarians are—
The Speaker: Thank you. The next question?
AFTER ANOTHER FRIENDLY BACKBENCH QUESTION ABOUT BOLSTERING BORDER MEASURES…
“Will the premier admit he failed LTC residents and staff and admit that Niagara was left without proper government support?”
Mr. Wayne Gates (NDP): My question is to the Premier. Nowhere has COVID been more deadly than in our long-term-care homes. We saw it clearly in Niagara. Despite the Premier’s promise to build an iron ring around long-term care in the first wave of COVID, more seniors died in the second wave than the first: mothers, fathers, grandparents, loved members of our community. At Oakwood Park Lodge in Niagara Falls, nearly 100% of the staff and residents were infected. Forty people died.
The long-term care commission confirmed what we all knew: This government failed long-term-care residents. In Niagara, people died as the government refused to send in the military or the Red Cross to help the staff, which I asked for. The report says it clearly: the Premier had no plan to protect these seniors or staff.
Speaker, will the Premier admit he failed long-term-care residents and staff and admit that Niagara was left without proper government support, and immediately implement the commission’s recommendations?
Calandra: As I’ve said on a number of occasions, we’ll certainly be reviewing all of the very important recommendations that came through the commission report. I think honourable members on both sides of the House would expect nothing less. But, as I have said on a number of occasions, we certainly were faced with some challenging situations when we inherited government after four previous Liberal administrations which had not done the work needed to invest in our long-term-care homes, whether it was a staffing strategy—we knew staff was leaving, but we didn’t know why they were leaving. Was it pay or was it other issues? Our homes were in disrepair. They had made no progress on helping on that file. There were multi-year wait-lists in many homes because the Liberals simply did not invest in new homes, Mr. Speaker.
Gates: We saw how much more deadly the second wave of COVID was in Niagara, despite this government having time to prepare and their promise to protect seniors and staff in long-term-care facilities. The long-term care commission’s report showed us that 26 seniors died of neglect, desperately needing water and a wipe-down. Think of that: They died because they couldn’t get water — water.
The Premier promised an investigation into these deaths; now he says he won’t launch one. Like the iron ring he promised, his investigation was a myth. He wouldn’t commit to implementing the recommendations in the report either. Enough of blaming others. Thousands of seniors have died under this government’s watch. This Premier and his government failed the residents of Ontario.
Will the Premier fully and immediately implement all of the recommendations in the commissioner’s report? Will he ensure that homes are properly staffed and that no other senior dies in the richest province in Canada because they couldn’t get water?
Calandra: I think the honourable member will agree that significant progress has been made. He’s absolutely correct that this province was left in a very challenging situation after four previous Liberal administrations and the lack of investment that we saw in them. That is why this government has committed to four hours of care. It’s a multi-billion-dollar investment. I suspect individuals don’t care how much it costs; they just want to ensure that it gets done.
That’s why, in addition to that, we’re going to be hiring 27,000 additional PSWs. We heard from the PSWs themselves in advance of the last election that they wanted an organization to allow them to advocate for themselves. That is before the House right now. We are building thousands of new homes across the province. We’ve increased infection prevention and control measures. The move to Ontario Health Teams is another significant milestone and breakthrough in how we can ensure that our homes stay safe.
The member is right: Work had to have been done over the last 15 years of the previous four Liberal administrations but we’re getting it done.
A cross-partisan pitch for affordable daycare — or “an ideological antipathy toward child care”
Ms. Kathleen O. Wynne (Independent Liberal): My question is for the Premier. One of the undeniable impacts of the COVID pandemic is that women have been disproportionately affected. Everyone has experienced major, isolating changes in their lives but women—working with the elderly, holding the front line in businesses deemed essential, caring for babies, working at their own jobs from home and home schooling their children—have often carried a double load, so much so that thousands of women have actually left the labour force in order to manage the demands of their families.
This is the reality, and the economic downturn brought on by COVID has been called the she-cession by some economists. It’s the reason that if we are successfully to recover as a society we need to recognize that we must foster a she-covery. The most important thing that we can do is make sure that women can re-enter the workforce when they’re ready to do so and have someone to look after their children.
Speaker, the federal government has offered to invest in child care across the country to enhance and build on the services already available in provinces and territories. Will the Premier work with the federal government to ensure that every family in Ontario who needs affordable child care for their children will find it in their own community?
The Speaker: To reply, the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues.
Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you to the member for that question. Obviously it’s one that we hold near and dear to our heart as well. Ontario is committed to building an affordable child care system that is flexible and responsive to needs of families. I can tell you from every round table that I have heard I always heard from women about the issues and barriers that women face. It is very important to us.
We hope that the federal government will significantly step up their funding to advance affordability, while agreeing that parents need a flexible system that responds to their preferences on how to raise their children. As we know, a one-size approach does not fit all.
We look forward to reviewing the details of the plan. As we have done before our government is again providing direct relief to families to help offset additional costs incurred as a result of the pandemic. Payments to parents through the Ontario COVID Child Benefit began on April 26 to help working parents of students age zero through Grade 12 with direct financial supports during the pandemic.
Wynne: I appreciate the minister’s answer. Between 2008 and 2018 our government built 200,000 child care spaces and the number of children in licensed child care in Ontario doubled in that period. Ontario Liberals have put forward a plan that would partner with the federal government to build on that progress and provide licensed affordable child care across Ontario. Licensed child care can be flexible, to the minister’s point. It can be home-based, and with the support of the federal government it can be affordable for every family.
I suspect that there’s an ideological antipathy toward child care in this government. We saw that on display during the last election, when the leader demonstrated that he knew nothing about how child care operated in Ontario.
But Speaker, the need to address this issue is more acute than it has ever been. COVID demands that we recognize the labour market participation by women will not recover without a new commitment to child care. I ask again whether this government will put aside that ideological opposition and develop a process to work with the federal government to make sure that child care is available to every family who wants it and needs it in Ontario.
The Speaker: And to respond, the Minister of Education.
Hon. Stephen Lecce: Indeed we will work with the federal government. We all aspire to make child care accessible, affordable and flexible for working parents in the province. However, as we reflect and look back, it must be noted, Speaker, that Ontario, under the former Liberal government, had the second most expensive child care in the nation. It’s not a program we seek to emulate.
We have chosen to directly support parents with the child care tax credit. We topped it up in the most recent budget by an additional 20 per cent, a one-time support, given the unique challenges facing parents, especially women, given their difficulty re-entering the labour market as a consequence of the disruption of the pandemic. We have increased supports in the child care system. There’s over $2 billion being expended every single year, with a plan to build 30,000 spaces within our schools. Last year, 16,000 spaces were created within the child care market.
We know there’s more to do. It’s why, in our budget, we increased supports. We’re going to continue, in collaboration with the federal government, to work with them to make child care more accessible for Ontarians.
A “cruel joke” on the North vs. the “Minister of Thought Control”
Mr. Jamie West (NDP): My question is for the Premier. On Friday, April 30, the Minister of Colleges and Universities released a statement that said the government’s priority is “to maintain a northern and bilingual midwifery program....” That got a lot of traction in the news and on social media, and many people reached out to my office to say that Laurentian University’s midwifery program had been saved. However, shortly afterwards, a ministry spokesperson clarified that the province was not saying it would be able to preserve Laurentian’s midwifery program but that it would be “making efforts,” then they provided zero information how that that would happen. That was a cruel joke to play on northern Ontario.
Would the Premier commit today to ensuring that a tri-cultural bilingual midwifery program in northern Ontario will exist this fall?
The Speaker: The member for Northumberland—Peterborough South and parliamentary assistant.
Mr. David Piccini: Yes, we remain committed to these programs in the north. That’s why, as the Premier and minister have said, we’ve worked with impacted students, the 10 per cent affected by the CCAA proceeding, to ensure pathways to graduation, worked closely with institutions to ensure that midwifery programming remains in the north, bilingual remains in the north for students to graduate and practise their practice within the north and will continue to do that.
West: Back to the Premier: For nearly two decades, Laurentian University’s physics department graduated 15 radiation therapists each and every single year. These are the students who go on to operate the machines used in radiation therapy for cancer patients. However, because the Premier failed to protect Laurentian University from the CCAA process, the medical physicists who provided training in radiation therapy have lost their jobs. This means that the four-year program to train radiation therapists in northern Ontario no longer exists.
According to the CBC, the Ministry of Health has referred questions about this to the Minister of Colleges and Universities, then the Ministry of Colleges and Universities referred them back to the MOH. The midwifery and radiation therapy for cancer patients are two programs essential to health care in Northern Ontario. Will the Premier do the right thing and commit to saving these programs in northern Ontario?
Piccini: Our government has been clear from day one: Our colleges, our universities are autonomous institutions governed by their own boards of directors. When one asked to go before a judicial proceeding, a CCAA—we respect that. We respect the independence of the process…
But what’s really deeply concerning from the member opposite: He wants politicians to interfere in what courses autonomous universities offer. He wants politicians to interfere in legal court proceedings, and it’s chilling, really. That’s why that party opposite has only had one opportunity to govern. If he wants to interview for minister of thought control, that’s up to him. But this government is going to respect the independent proceedings, and we’re going to support our students in the north.
Heckling over “xenophobic and outrageous” attack ads
Mr. Stephen Blais (Independent Liberal): The Premier and his party have launched attacks against the federal government that are xenophobic and outrageous. They’re claiming it’s the federal government’s failure at the border that is the cause of all of our COVID-19 problems. The Premier has said he wants to see fewer people enter Ontario, but he won’t tell us who—
Interjections.
The Speaker: Just a sec. I need to be able to hear the question. The member for Orléans has the floor.
Blais: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier has told us that he wants to see fewer people enter Ontario, but he won’t tell us who. Does he want to stop truck drivers from delivering essential goods? Does he want to stop doctors and nurses from crossing the border to work at hospitals? Does he want to stop the 30,000 international students who were accepted into our publicly funded universities?
Today, the government claims that they’re talking about restrictions on domestic travel, and they’ve closed the borders between Ontario and Quebec. And since they’re doing such a good job at domestic travel restrictions, perhaps the minister can tell us how many people travelled from Gatineau into Ottawa this morning.
The Speaker: The Solicitor General.
Jones: I’m shocked, Speaker. I can’t believe the member opposite has not been listening to the back and forth about what we have been doing, what we will continue to do. To be clear: We want to stop the variants of concern coming into Ontario. That is what is going to protect us. That is what is going to give us the time to vaccinate enough people, to protect our citizens.
If the member understood that the vast majority of positive cases right now are actually variants that originate from somewhere outside of Ontario, perhaps he could work with us and our federal partners to do the right thing and close the borders, test people and get the land and water loopholes solved. That would be a productive use of your time.
Blais: Just to be clear, the minister doesn’t know how many people travelled from Gatineau to Ottawa this morning, despite the fact that there is an interprovincial restriction.
The province is on lockdown; thousands of new COVID-19 cases every day; over 800 Ontarians in critical care. Schools and outdoor recreation remain closed and a lack of centralized booking has led to a scramble to find and receive vaccinations. But instead of focusing on solving these issues, instead of spending their time getting vaccines into arms, advertising about vaccine hesitancy, the government is focusing their attention on blaming others. They’re not advertising about stopping the spread of the virus. They’re not advertising to combat vaccine hesitancy. They’re not advertising about the ways in which they’re helping Ontarians. They’re advertising and fundraising with the all-too-familiar refrain of blaming others. Those people from over there, Mr. Speaker. It’s those people from over there. If only fewer of them were coming in, all of our problems would be solved.
When will the government put the focus on helping Ontarians and stop trying to animate their base with dog-whistle politics?
The Speaker: I’m going to ask the member to withdraw.
Blais: I withdraw.
The Speaker: To reply, the Solicitor General.
Jones: So many issues. First of all, I am going to reinforce that the vast majority of variants of positive cases of COVID-19 are, in fact, the variants of concern, which, by extension, means that those variants came from other countries. Right now, that happens to be a variant that started in the UK, but we all know and are watching what’s happening with our BC and Alberta counterparts, where they are seeing variants coming from other countries. We need to stop that.
We can do all the vaccinations that we can, based on the supply, and we will continue to do that. We’ve expanded the pharmacy model. We’ve expanded the primary care model. We have 34 public health units doing excellent work across Ontario, making sure that, to date, over six million people — that’s almost half of the province — have received the vaccine.
Inoculations in York South—Weston moving like molasses
Mr. Faisal Hassan (NDP): Good morning, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. The third wave has been devastating to York South–Weston, a community of essential workers and marginalized populations. As a high risk and hot spot, we need to be made a priority for vaccinations; so far, we have few mobile pop-ups and no permanent facility or location. Now, this week, our residents are forced to travel outside of the community for any hope of getting their vaccine.
Our residents are looking for the government to provide the health care they need right here, right now, in the community. Workers need adequate paid sick days as well as paid time off to get the vaccinations they are waiting for. When is this government going to act with urgency when it comes to stopping COVID transmission in our community?
The Speaker: To reply, the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development.
McNaughton: We were the very first province in Canada since COVID-19 hit this country to bring in a comprehensive 23 days of paid sick leave for workers, a culmination of the federal government’s program and ours. But, Mr. Speaker, I’m extremely proud of our Worker Income Protection Benefit. It does not require a sick note from doctors and it ensures that workers stay home if they’re feeling unwell, if they are getting a COVID test and waiting for COVID results, if a worker has to go and get vaccinated or if a worker has to stay home and recover from a vaccination.
Mr. Speaker, we go even further: If there are workers out there being impacted by mental health issues related to COVID-19, they can stay home and be paid for that. If you’re a mom or a dad that has to stay home because your child has COVID symptoms, stay home and get paid.
Hassan: Again, my question for the Premier. High-risk and hot spots like York South–Weston that are home to so many essential workers need to be not treated like an afterthought by this government.
I have been approached by essential businesses who would like to get their essential workers vaccinated right at their workplace but cannot afford to cover the cost of arranging for that. Why is this government not making it easier for workplaces to vaccinate their employees on the spot?
The Speaker: The Solicitor General.
Jones: I’m actually really glad that the member opposite raised this, because it’s very exciting. One of the other pathways for individuals to get vaccinated is mobile mini vaccination sites that are moving into some of the areas and smaller businesses that do not have the facility or the bandwidth to put on their own vaccination clinics. So, in fact, we have ramped up, with the help of the Red Cross, to actually have teams go out and go to those smaller businesses. I hope that the member opposite would share the names of those businesses with us so that we can reach out, connect and make sure that that is available to them and their employees.
Throwback to last Spring Break when Ford encouraged families to go away on vacation, and an unlikely friendship
Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios (Independent): My question is for the Premier. Recently, the Premier stated that he believes that if the borders were safe, everything would be fine right now. But back in March of last year, when there were fewer than 200 cases of COVID in Ontario, the Premier encouraged families to travel for March Break and stated that he wanted the borders to remain open.
If it’s true that border measures might have helped stop the spread of COVID, it’s logical that it would have only helped way back when there were only a few cases of COVID in Ontario and none of the variants had arrived. So, then, why did the Premier not call for these measures 14 months ago, when things could have been prevented?
The Speaker: The response, the Solicitor General.
Jones: The member opposite raises an important piece of information, and that is, the more that we learn about COVID-19 — how it spreads, why it spreads, where it’s spreading from — the more we can protect people. It is absolutely critical, as we understand more about COVID-19, that we continue to learn, that we continue to pivot and we continue to put more additional enforcement in.
I would remind the member that it was actually Premier Ford and our government who started testing international visitors in the beginning of this year, because we all remember that long-term-care home in Barrie that was devastated because one person who was carrying the variant from the UK infected and then, unfortunately, devastated an LTC home. When we learn that information, we have to be able to react quickly to ensure that others are protected. That’s what we’ve done by asking for additional border restrictions and imposing more border restrictions on Manitoba and Quebec.
Karahalios: Speaker, the Premier had 14 months to ask the federal government to do something on border controls, but the Premier blew it. He was too busy praising instead. Last August, the Premier stated, “You wonder why I'm always up here praising him? Because he did an incredible job as Prime Minister.” The Prime Minister responded with, “It’s always great to be here with friends, particularly you, Premier Ford.” Then the Premier called Liberal finance minister Chrystia Freeland “amazing.” She previously called the Premier her therapist.
If the Premier had such a glowing friendship with Prime Minister Trudeau and such influence over Finance Minister Freeland, why didn’t the Premier take the opportunity to ask for the border measures he wanted 14 months ago, back when no variants had arrived in Canada and COVID cases were close to zero by comparison—in other words, back when it may have made a difference?
Jones: When COVID-19 came in last year it came in from another country. The variants came in from another country. We looked at what the Maritime bubble did. It was a very successful model. They protected their borders. We’ve done that. To their credit, the federal government, after a number of weeks, did actually take over PCR testing of international visitors. All we are asking for is that we do the same for the domestic visitors…All we want to do is protect them to make sure that we don’t have more spread and a fourth wave.
Sky-high auto insurance rates in Brampton
Mr. Kevin Yarde (NDP): My question is to the Premier. Last week I wrote a letter to the Minister of Finance highlighting some concerns on the state of our auto insurance system in Ontario and in Brampton North. I wrote how in Ontario we pay some of the highest auto insurance rates in the country — twice as much as our neighbours in Quebec pay, on average.
I also informed the minister that my constituents of Brampton North pay the highest auto insurance premiums in the province, with an average of $3,301 per year, more than twice the provincial average of $1,116. We also know there have been fewer drivers and fewer accidents on the road during this pandemic. Insurance companies have raked in record profits but the drivers of Ontario have not seen any meaningful rebates.
As the Official Opposition has recommended, will this government implement a 50 per cent decrease on auto insurance payments during this pandemic and allow payment deferrals for those who have lost their jobs in these times of economic uncertainty?
The Speaker: The parliamentary assistant and member for Willowdale.
Mr. Stan Cho: I appreciate the member from Brampton North raising this very important issue. As the member will understand from the foundational briefing provided to him through the Ministry of Finance, this is a very complex issue because we have an auto insurance system that is overly complicated and full of conflict —created, actually, by the NDP. That means we have to tackle this problem in a fundamental way, going after the root problems, increasing competition, getting rid of the conflict in the system and attracting new entrants into the market by allowing for the use of technology, such as user-based insurance. I’m proud to say that Travelers Insurance recently has announced a new plan which will bring down rates for the great drivers of Brampton.
Our message to the ratepayers of Brampton and across this province is very clear: The NDP created this mess. We’re going to fix it.
The Speaker: That concludes question period for this morning.