Question Period: Wednesday, June 2
Ford MIA again
The penultimate debate before the House rises for summer…If the days leading up to it are any indication, it’s going to be a raucous final debate today — and we shouldn’t hold our breath for Premier DOUG FORD to make an appearance, though he’s more likely to show on the last sitting day and after he finalized the plan for schools.
THE HIGHLIGHTS: Polling vs. paediatric advice — Why is Ontario the only province where kids aren’t in class? — A fully-vaccinated education workforce by September — “Actual” funding needed to back up Indigenous policy promises — “It’s time the Premier does his homework and gets schools open safely now” — To support Stratford Festival or not support it, that is the question — Opioid overdose deaths up 75 per cent — Let performers rehearse ahead of reopening — Getting Highway 427 up to speed — Pay raise for child-care workers — “He’s more worried about likes on Instagram than he is about getting his job done.”
Polling vs. paediatric advice
TRANSCRIPT — Ms. Andrea Horwath: Good morning. My first question this morning is for the Premier. It’s been two weeks since this government announced opening plans and forgot to mention anything about schools. For over a year this government has ignored and dismissed the concerns about the necessity to get our schools safely open. It’s clear, based on media reports, that this government had no plan—except for polling—and they have no plan now.
My question to the Premier is: Is it really the case that this Premier is making decisions about the mental, emotional and physical well-being of our children based on political polling instead of paediatric advice?
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the government House leader.
Hon. Paul Calandra: We were concentrating on students and their educational success even before the pandemic started, but as the pandemic raged on through the province of Ontario through the first wave we worked very hard to ensure that kids could return to school last September in a safe fashion. I’m quite proud of what our educators were able to accomplish. And not only just the educators: while I have the floor I’ll say a big thank you to Ms. Greco and to Ms. Shapiro, teachers for my two daughters. But not only to the teachers, to the maintenance workers, the principals and the administrative staff, who have made our schools some of the safest schools in the province of Ontario through September.
Let’s remember that it was the opposition who did not want our kids to return to in-person school in September, Mr. Speaker. We knew parents did. That’s why we had the option for in-school as well as online. It’s been very successful. We will continue to put the needs of students first.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?
Ms. Andrea Horwath: We all know that Ontario is the only province in Canada without kids in school, and there’s a reason for that. It’s not an accident. This government walked us right into the third wave, ignoring the advice of experts. They attacked critics who were working so hard to demand safer schools for our kids. In fact, as we just found out the other day, they were claiming that there was no spread of COVID-19 in schools, even though all along they knew that wasn’t the case.
Kids in the classroom were supposed to come first. That’s what was supposed to be the priority. Does the Premier accept any responsibility whatsoever for the fact that children in Ontario are the only kids in the entire country that are not back in their classrooms?
Hon. Paul Calandra: The Leader of the Opposition did not want kids to return to school in person at all. Mr. Speaker, you will recall last September the leader of the official opposition was not in favour of a return to in-person learning for our students. We knew that that had to happen and that’s why we made serious investments in ventilation. That’s why we ensured that there was additional staffing and there were additional maintenance workers to ensure that the schools were safe. That was done remarkably well.
It’s not a hallmark of the government. We put the resources in place, yes, but it is the hard-working teachers, it’s the hard-working staff, it’s the boards of education who worked very closely with us, worked with the chief medical officer of the province of Ontario, worked with the Chief Medical Officers of Health in the different 34 public health units and made sure that a return to school was safe. And it has gone very well.
Of course, the opposition did not want that. They’re never ones to want to listen to what parents want, certainly never putting the needs of students first. We will continue to do that, not only because it’s the right thing to do now; it’s the right thing to do for the future of the province of Ontario.
Ms. Andrea Horwath: This Premier has never actually done what was the right thing for the people of Ontario during COVID. He never had a plan for kids in the classroom, Speaker, clearly. Two weeks ago there was no plan. He announced a reopening and left families and kids and teachers hanging. There was no mention of schools. It was clear when he spent the last year claiming that schools are safe when in fact they knew that that wasn’t the case. It was clear when the science table was literally screaming recommendations at the government about reopening too fast, which they just simply ignored and created this brutal third wave that we’re now dealing with.
All of the experts—experts from SickKids, experts from CHEO, from the Canadian Paediatric Society—say this: Kids “have suffered immeasurably over the course of the pandemic.... The benefits of a few weeks in the classroom cannot be overstated.” That’s what the experts say.
Why doesn’t the Premier care about the emotional, physical and the mental well-being of the children of Ontario?
Hon. Paul Calandra: Is the Leader of the Opposition really, truly listening to herself when she asks these questions? I’m a father of two kids who are both in school, who are both learning online. Is she really suggesting that I as a father and those of my colleagues here who are also parents who have kids in school somehow don’t care about children? It is preposterous, Mr. Speaker.
What we have done since the beginning is ensure that the resources were in place to get our kids into school safely. We know it has been difficult—not only difficult for all Ontarians and difficult for our small, medium and large job creators but extremely difficult for our youngest Ontarians. They are the future of the province of Ontario. They are the ones who will be sitting in this place when we are long gone, paying for the decisions that we have made today. That’s why we ensured that our schools are safe. That’s why we ensured last September that they went in school even though it was the Leader of the Opposition who suggested that they should stay home. When the Chief Medical Officer of Health was saying, “Send them to school,” we said yes. They said no. We won’t listen to them, Mr. Speaker.
Why is Ontario the only province where kids aren’t in class?
Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is for the Premier, but I think it’s pretty clear that actions speak louder than words in terms of this government’s behaviour.
It has been clear for over a year what was needed in our schools, what was needed to be done to keep our classrooms safe: Bring class sizes down to 15. Get rid of the backlog of repairs that have been hanging over since the Liberals were in charge. Vaccination, testing: vaccination of teachers and education workers and widespread testing in our schools, working with education workers. And instead, what did we get? The Ford government cut the education budget. The Ford government attacked teachers and education workers. The Ford government failed to conduct any effective testing that would have given them information about the spread of COVID-19 in schools, and of course, they claimed that there was no spread even though they knew that wasn’t the case.
So, my question is: Will this Premier answer my question? Will he admit that his failures have led to the fact that Ontario is now the only province in our country that doesn’t have kids back in the classroom?
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Government House leader to reply.
Hon. Paul Calandra: I think the people of the province of Ontario will recall quite clearly that it was the Leader of the Opposition who in September asked us not to send kids back to school, and we said, “No, we have to have that done.” We knew how important it was to the youngest Ontarians that they continue their education but also to give options for parents so that they could learn at home if that’s what they felt they needed to do. We put that in place. We ensured that there were repairs to ventilation. We ensured that there were thousands of additional staff brought into boards across the province—thousands of additional teachers, hundreds of additional maintenance workers—to keep our schools safe and to ensure that there was safety in the schools. We brought in testing for students. We have done all of that so that our kids could continue learning. We understand how important it is and how difficult this has been. That’s why we’ve put additional resources in for mental health. We’ll continue to do that, and we will ensure that kids have the best-quality education possible.
Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, tragically, the schools and the kids not being in the classroom is only the latest example of this Premier and this government’s failure when it comes to the response to COVID-19. As we know, they ignored warnings that kept kids out of the classroom. They ignored warnings that led to 4,000 seniors losing their lives in long-term care. They ignored warnings in February that marched us right into this brutal third wave that we’ve all been trying to deal with. Every step of the way, they’ve ignored the warnings, they’ve denied the facts, and they have put politics ahead of people.
Why was this government focused on protecting the king instead of protecting the people of Ontario?
Hon. Paul Calandra: I think that question really speaks for itself, and I think it really underlines why it is that the NDP have never been given the confidence of the people of the province of Ontario to form a government but one disastrous time, a disaster that led the former NDP Premier to abandon his own party for another party.
What this Premier has done and what this government has done is focus on the people of the province of Ontario, keeping them safe, Mr. Speaker, right from day one. Even before the pandemic hit, we were working on long-term care, we were working on health care, increasing health care capacity. We knew that we had to bring in more staff. We knew that we needed more ICU capacity. We were working on that in advance of the pandemic, despite the fact that, every single time, that opposition voted against those investments, Mr. Speaker.
What it is, is you have to plan before, during and after. We have done that, and when we come out of this pandemic, we will lead the nation in economic growth like we did before the pandemic.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The final supplementary.
Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, teachers and parents and kids are exhausted. They’re stressed out. There has been year after year of unpredictability, of disruption and uncertainty in our classrooms. Teachers, education workers and parents have all you gone above and beyond during this pandemic. All of them deserve a government that prioritizes the mental, physical and emotional well-being of the children of this province, but that’s not what they’ve seen from their government. Why?
Hon. Paul Calandra: Speaker, since day one, since we were elected, we knew that we had to make some serious changes in the province of Ontario. That is why the people of the province of Ontario entrusted us to make those changes.
When it comes to education, we started right away. We looked at those math scores and we knew we had to do something different. We looked at the science scores and we knew we had to do something different. That’s why we started putting resources into those areas: so that we could improve outcomes for our students, and we saw that.
We knew that, as the pandemic was hitting, we had to take action to get our kids back into class as soon as possible, but we couldn’t do that without making the investments that, unfortunately, the previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP during the minority, did not do, Mr. Speaker.
Interjection.
Hon. Paul Calandra: The House leader for the Liberals might find it funny that his government never invested in schools. He might find it funny that they closed 600 schools. The parents of the province of Ontario don’t find the failures of the Del Duca/Wynne government funny, Mr. Speaker. We will get the job done for the future generations of Ontarians who will be sitting in this chamber making decisions for—
Interjection.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.
Interjection.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Ottawa South, come to order. The next question.
A fully-vaccinated education workforce by September
Mr. Jamie West: My question is to the Premier. With only three weeks left in the school year, Sudbury’s parents, students and educators are anxiously waiting for the Conservative government to make a decision about reopening schools. Experts like the Council of Ontario Medical Officers of Health and the Hospital for Sick Children are supporting in-person learning:
“Public Health Sudbury & Districts” PHU “is prepared to support schools to transition as quickly as possible to in-person learning and to lead effective case and contact management should COVID-19 cases emerge in our schools in the month of June.”
My question, through you to the Premier, is, will the Premier follow expert advice? Will he listen to parents, students and educators and reopen Sudbury schools to in-person learning for the remainder of the school year?
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The government House leader.
Hon. Paul Calandra: We will continue to do what is best for the people of the province of Ontario and put our students first. That’s what we have been doing since day one, not only during the pandemic, but as I just said, when we were elected, we knew we had to do better for our students. That is why we set out to increase scores in math and sciences and make those important investments in rebuilding some of the schools. I just talked about the 600 schools that the previous Del Duca/Wynne Liberal government closed in the province of Ontario. We started to make changes.
When it comes to the pandemic, I can assure the member opposite and the people of Sudbury, what we will do is put students first. We will put the health and safety of our students first, Mr. Speaker. That has been our priority since September. Since September, when the NDP were calling us to leave kids home, we chose to go down a different path: keep our schools safe; hire thousands of additional teachers; hire additional people to keep our schools clean and safe for students. That will remain our number one priority.
Mr. Jamie West: Back to the Premier: To clarify, what we stood for was having kids come back not in crowded buses, not in crowded classrooms and with full ventilation. That’s where they dropped ball on the health and safety for our children.
Mr. McIntyre’s a music teacher. He’s been juggling a hybrid model of learning for his music class. He told me that trying to teach a classroom of in-class music students while also trying to instruct online learners students is almost impossible. The in-class students progressed quickly, received instant feedback every day and became excited and actively engaged in music. Meanwhile, the distance learners quickly became disengaged. They often wouldn’t submit assignments. They developed a negative attitude towards music and education in general.
The Premier has a quarter of a year, a three-month window, to ensure that all education workers in Ontario have their vaccinations before school resumes in September. Mr. Speaker, my question through you to the Premier is, will the Premier prioritize first and second dose vaccines so that education workers are completely vaccinated before September 2021?
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): And to respond, the government House leader.
Hon. Paul Calandra: The member opposite would know that, of course, we already have. But here is the problem with the NDP hearing that question again: The NDP, of course, always look short term. I’m not going to say that we’re going to fix the entire education system in three months because we started in 2018.
Interjection.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.
Hon. Paul Calandra: You don’t just do it in two months like the NDP are suggesting. W knew that when we got into office back in 2018—
Interjection.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Leader of the Opposition, come to order.
Hon. Paul Calandra: —we had to make serious investments because our students were falling behind. I don’t want my children suffering because of the decisions or lack of decision-making by governments that I’m a part of, Mr. Speaker. That’s why we made these important investments.
Interjection.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Member for Waterloo, come to order.
Hon. Paul Calandra: That’s why we’ve done everything we could to keep kids in school since September. It was them who voted against it. They voted against those investments. They wanted students at home. We wanted better for our students and made sure the resources were there.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Just a friendly reminder to the House, when you ignore the Speaker’s call to order, the Speaker has no alternative but to move to warnings. Next question?
[AFTER A FRIENDLY QUESTION ABOUT THE MOMS ACT AND ROAD SAFETY…]
“Actual” funding needed to back up Indigenous policy promises
Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Good morning, Speaker. My question is to the Premier.
Remarks in Oji-Cree.
Speaker, the in Kamloops has caused great pain, especially for residential school survivors and their families. Garnet Angeconeb is an elder from Lac Seul First Nation and a survivor of the Pelican Lake Residential School near Sioux Lookout. He said: “What happened in Kamloops is a validation of the things that we, as survivors, have been saying for many, many years.”
When we spoke, he said that the survivors and their families need support. Mr. Speaker, the discovery has opened many wounds. Healing initiatives and mental health resources are needed. What is Ontario doing to help support survivors and their families?
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond, the government House leader.
Hon. Paul Calandra: The member has been raising a number of very important considerations all week, things that I know that the Minister of Indigenous Affairs has been seized with and working on with our partners in Indigenous communities across the province of Ontario.
I think it’s also worth mentioning that this is something that has been so important to Minister Rickford long before he even became the Minister of Indigenous Affairs, having worked as a nurse in many of the communities across the north, Mr. Speaker.
But the member is right, work has to be done. It’s not just about what we saw in Kamloops, as horrifically tragic as that is. I think what we have to make sure that we do—and I know that this member will not stop in his pursuit of making sure that his community and Indigenous communities across the province of Ontario and Canada—finally get the resources that they need, not only from the provincial government but from the federal government. We have to make sure that this just isn’t a temporary thing that we see because it’s highlighted in news stories across the country but it is something that we once and for all take action on.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary? The member for Toronto Centre.
Ms. Suze Morrison: My question is back to the Premier. Speaker, we’ve heard commitments from this government this week but we need an actual commitment to funding the programs and services and, like my colleague said, the healing supports that are needed in the communities right now. We need more than hollow words, broken promises, lowered flags and symbolic gestures.
Frankly, Speaker, I don’t know how we’re supposed to believe the words of this government when they say that they’ve going to fund and support Indigenous communities through this tragic moment when we’ve watched them decimate and cut. We watched them obliterate the Indigenous Culture Fund. We watched them take an Indigenous curriculum that was supposed to be embedded in Ontario’s curriculum about the history of residential schools, and they downsized that curriculum and made it an elective. This government says that they will work to never forget but their actions say otherwise.
Will this government reverse its decisions, make the teaching of residential schools mandatory at the elementary and secondary levels, and restore the Indigenous Culture Fund?
Hon. Paul Calandra: Of course, Mr. Speaker, as I said, there is obviously a tremendous amount of work that still needs to be done on this. If I’m not mistaken, the federal government will be outlining its response to the murdered and missing Indigenous women’s report. I know that Minister Dunlop did so last week, but there is a tremendous amount of work.
Look, I’m not going to satisfy the member opposite or any of the Indigenous communities that are watching in a 60-second response in the chamber, Mr. Speaker. More work has to be done. But it’s not just about what we saw in Kamloops, as horrifically tragic as that is. The members are raising points about finally addressing more than just that issue. It’s about economic health of communities. It’s about the spiritual healing of communities. It’s about working together to find out what works best for our First Nations communities. Minister Rickford has been doing that since day one.
Does more work have to be done? Absolutely. Have we made good progress? Yes. Out of this tragedy, have we highlighted across the country that more still has to be done? Yes, we will get it done, but I can’t do it in a 60-second answer in the House.
“It’s time the Premier does his homework and gets schools open safely now”
Ms. Mitzie Hunter: Speaker, as this is my first opportunity to rise since the devastating news in Kamloops, BC. I do want to extend my condolences to the Indigenous community. The generational trauma that has been caused—it’s time for Canada and Ontario to do better, and that’s all I will say.
My question is to the Premier. This government has failed to create the conditions for reopening schools safely. Not only has this government shut down the economy and schools, but their lack of leadership and planning has resulted in a protracted debate about opening schools or patios, which should not be the case. Schools and patios are closed because this government has not planned and invested in the reopening. We need to see action. We need accelerated investments in ventilation, in teacher vaccination and our education workers, as well. We need PPE and a robust testing and contact-tracing program to manage the outbreaks.
Speaker, teachers have heard every excuse under the sun as to why the Premier has not done his homework. It’s time that the Premier does his homework and gets schools open safely now.
Hon. Paul Calandra: Of course, Mr. Speaker, she talked about doing better on ventilation. We’ve done that. She talked about hiring additional teachers. We’ve done that. She talked about hiring additional staff to ensure that our schools are safe. We have done that. That is why, in September, we were able to have our kids go back to school for some learning.
But we also knew we had to give parents choice, and that choice was to be in class or online. We made the investments to make sure that parents had access to both. That is what we have been doing since day 1, since this pandemic hit. We will not stop putting the emphasis on our kids, on the next generation of leaders. That is our priority, and we will continue to make students our priority.
Ms. Mitzie Hunter: Speaker, this government fails to understand that not all households have the same resources to support students learning at home. Words are not enough. Actions are what matters, and your actions are to cut $1.6 billion in priorities and partnerships funding, as the FAO reported just this week. It shows the government’s real intention.
In hot spots, schools are in need of repairs and not set up to deal with an airborne virus that is mostly transmitted indoors and in close proximity. There are real COVID learning gaps that are being developed, mental health risks for schools being closed, and things are not set up for a safe return to schools either now or in September.
Speaker, the government has not made sure that schools are safe for in-person learning now, and is cutting funding for the next school year that should be invested in our schools. Does the Premier believe that this pandemic has had a worse effect on hot spot students, and, if so, what is his plan to ensure that there are no learning gaps and that students in all areas of our province receive the supports that they deserve, so there’s no—
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. The government House leader.
Hon. Paul Calandra: It’s a strange question coming from a member who used to be the Minister of Education. Her question outlines why that member was such a failure as a Minister of Education. She says that we weren’t prepared. She said that the schools weren’t prepared to deal with the pandemic—
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m going to caution the government House leader on his language and ask him to conclude his answer.
Hon. Paul Calandra: Mr. Speaker, the question was that schools were not prepared in the province of Ontario for the pandemic. We began making those changes in 2018. The question was that our educators weren’t prepared. We started making those changes in 2018.
I am very sorry that the Liberals find offence in the fact that their time in government was such a failure, but that is why the people of the province of Ontario turned to this government to put in place and to fix all of the damage that that party did. I am sorry that they find that offensive, but the people of Ontario wanted change, and that’s why they turned to us: to fix the mistakes of the Liberal government.
[AFTER A SOFTBALL ABOUT TIGHTENING UP THE BORDERS…]
To support Stratford Festival or not support it, that is the question
Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is to the Premier. Yesterday, theatre-goers were excited to see work nearing completion on a new outdoor performance space for the Stratford Festival. They and other arts organizations have invested millions towards a safe reopening. Like so many others in their sector, last year the Stratford Festival cancelled in-person programming and pivoted to online engagements. This year, they and others, like the Waterloo jazz festival and Drayton theatre, are ready to return to safe in-person performances.
We all need this to happen. What they need from this government is a thoughtful, individualized approach to reopening performance venues, including outdoor spaces. For example, they need permission to rehearse outside. You can’t start in step 2 never having rehearsed in step 1. This is advice from Mitch Marcus from the consortium. After the year the performing arts have been through, the frustration is real and there are no provisions for rehearsals in the new road map, which doesn’t make it a very effective road map for the performing arts community.
Will the Premier work with the Stratford Festival and the performing arts community to ensure that they can open safely, sooner than later?
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries.
Hon. Lisa MacLeod: I appreciate the member opposite’s question. It’s one that we’ve been working on throughout the last 15 months with this sector, particularly with the Stratford and the Shaw festivals, as well as many other festivals across the province who have either been shuttered or who have—we were able to get some concessions in the previous framework for them to be able to do online and virtual performances.
Having said that, there’s a great inconsistency with the member opposite and her leader. Her leader is telling us to shut more things down. She’s telling us to open more things up. We spend a lot of time with the Minister of Health—she and I spend a great deal of time with these sectors—in addition to the jobs and recovery committee at cabinet, with which we have an audience with Dr. David Williams. At this time, they have said, at the health table, we aren’t prepared at that moment. We are right now we’re in pre-step 1. We would like to get to step 1, and the quicker we get into step 1, the quicker we get into 2 and the quicker we get to see these performance art centres back up and running. That’s something I would love to see happen almost immediately, Mr. Speaker.
Ms. Catherine Fife: We’ve asked for common sense. Pre-pandemic, the Stratford Festival attracted 500,000 tourists annually, directly employed 100 people, created an additional 2,400 full-time jobs. If we want to talk about restarting the economy, it needs to be inclusive of these arts organizations and businesses like the Stratford Festival. They can’t just turn the lights on and call action without having the ability to prepare for that opening. They are simply asking for clarity and the for rules of engagement, if you will, so that they can plan for a successful season, but they are running out of time. They also want clear communication from the government in order for their season to move forward, rehearsing outdoors and a flexible model to maximize capacity limits safely for audiences.
Can the government commit today to these reasonable requests and establish regulatory fairness for the performing arts sector?
Hon. Lisa MacLeod: As I mentioned in the previous answer, the ministry is working with health in order to provide those guidelines. We have established a table to try to make sure that we have a theatre strategy moving forward, the Stratford Festival obviously being part of that as well as the Shaw as well as others.
But again I speak to the inconsistencies of the NDP. At the beginning of this question period, the leader wanted to shut more things down and prolong the lockdown. And now, this member opposite is trying to open more things up.
We continue to work with the sector. In fact, we increased the funding to the sector by $25 million, and we gave the Stratford Festival $1.8 million. They said, “We are extremely grateful to the Ontario government for being so responsive to our needs. The Stratford Festival had to cancel its entire 2020 season, which was to bring in more than $70 million in revenue.... Thank you, Minister MacLeod, for supporting the arts and artists in this province. We desperately need the stability this new funding offers.”
Interjections.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order. The member for Hamilton Mountain, come to order. The member for York Centre, come to order.
Interjection.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Hamilton Mountain, come to order. The next question.
Opioid overdose deaths up 75 per cent
Mr. Mike Schreiner: Good morning. My question is for the Premier. COVID-19 is a public health crisis that has required extraordinary government action, but Ontario has another public health crisis that is crying out for urgent government action. A recent report found that 2,050 people died of opioid overdoses between March and December of 2020. That’s an increase of 75% from the exact same time period of the year before. That is 75% more deaths. But instead of taking action, the Premier has refused to remove the cap on overdose prevention sites that he imposed in 2018.
I have a simple question, Speaker: Will the Premier act now to save lives by removing the cap on the overdose prevention sites?
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Health.
Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you very much to the member for the question. The opioid situation is very serious in Ontario. It has been for some years, but it certainly has been exacerbated by the pandemic. We are taking action. We have currently funded 16 consumption and treatment services sites, and there are still other municipalities that are still applying to become consumption treatment sites. There’s still room for others to apply.
In addition to that, we’ve allocated up to $13.3 million for 21 CTS sites across the province of Ontario, and as part of our plan, our Roadmap to Wellness, our comprehensive mental health and addictions plan that was launched just before COVID struck Ontario, we have invested over $525 million more in funding, including $4 million for nurse practitioners for detox centres, $8 million for addictions day and evening care and $3.5 million for in-home withdrawal care and vans that can move across areas that are difficult to serve.
There’s more that I can say in the supplemental, but it’s something that we do take very seriously and are working on right now.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question?
Mr. Mike Schreiner: Everything is not okay. Public health experts are calling for action. The Ontario Construction Consortium just came out calling for action because 30% of the deaths are construction workers. Yesterday, northern Ontario mayors came out calling for action on the opioid crisis. Just last week I met with the drug strategy team in my riding, one of those 16 cities that has an overdose prevention site. They said, “Mike, can you convince the government to remove the cap so other communities can have the kinds of harm reduction services we have in Guelph?”
With all due respect to the minister, I’m asking the government: Will they remove the cap on overdose prevention sites and put more money into harm reduction services to help save lives?
Hon. Christine Elliott: Again, this is a very serious situation and I can advise the member that there is no need to remove the cap because there are still municipalities that are applying. We’ve funded 16. There are 21 that can be funded. Municipalities can apply and make their case to have more consumption and treatment services centres.
But it’s not just about that. I heard you speak about harm reduction. We need to have investments made across the entire continuity of care for people to make sure that we can have the consumption and treatment services sites. We need more RAAM clinics. We need more safe places for people to live for residential treatment. There is a lot of work that has yet to be done. We are working on a plan now and we will be releasing the details of it very soon.
[AFTER A FRIENDLY BACKBENCH QUESTION ABOUT ENERGY RATES…]
Let performers rehearse ahead of reopening
Ms. Jill Andrew: COVID hit, and artists, performers, art workers were dealt a devastating blow. Jobs were lost; venues shuttered.
My question is to the Premier. Roadmap to Reopen leaves live arts behind. I am begging this government to accept the clear and evidence-based demands of the #FairnessForArtsON campaign and many other arts organizations, like TAPA, MANO, PASO and CARFAC Ontario, demanding regulatory fairness on par with our good friends in film and television and sports.
My question to the Premier is this: Will you allow artists and all performers to rehearse as soon as this stay-at-home order is lifted so they can prepare for reopening? Tarragon Theatre needs to rehearse. Will you reinstate livestreaming and recording in venues as soon as this stay-at-home order is lifted? And will you outline clear percentages-based capacities indoors and distance-based capacities outdoors so we can get our artists, our performers, our arts workers back in, building art, creating art and helping their mental health? Please—
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. To reply, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture.
Hon. Lisa MacLeod: I want to thank the member opposite for the great question. Obviously, I have a very loud voice around the table and I really echo her comments. I really do feel that parody is important. But at the same time, I recognize we’re in a public health crisis, and we take our guidance from the Chief Medical Officer of Health and our health care professionals.
I know that the members opposite don’t like taking the advice from the Chief Medical Officer of Health and they have undermined him consistently, but I do sit around a table with him frequently during the week, along with the Minister of Health, and we want to make sure—
Interjection.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Toronto–St. Paul’s must come to order. The Minister of Heritage, please conclude your response.
Hon. Lisa MacLeod: —when we reopen, we reopen for good. That’s why the quicker we get to step 1, the quicker we get to step 2 and the quicker we can get our artists back up and running. I fully support the arts sector in this province—
Interjection.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Toronto–St. Paul’s is warned. Supplementary question. The member for St. Catharines.
Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: My question is to the Minister of Health. I have recently talked to several performing art communities in St. Catharines, and they are asking a simple question. The government’s reopening plan has made allowances for film, television and high-performing athletes to prepare; however, has left out the protocols for live performers to rehearse. It feels like the arts were unfairly forgotten again. There is a lot at risk in Niagara. They cannot magically appear on stage. They need to start rehearsing today.
Organizations in my community like Kate Leathers of Carousel Players and Rebecca Walsh at the Essential Collective Theatre have said without rehearsals now, they are at risk of cancelling their summer season. This will be months of actors, musicians and their techs not working. In Niagara, that means losing months of ancillary benefits to restaurants and small businesses. The arts sector is central to safely jump-start our tourist economy.
Minister, will you let performing art rehearse now, like their counterparts in the film industry, so they can be ready to open on day one of stage 2?
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries.
Hon. Lisa MacLeod: There’s nothing more than I would love to see our performance arts up and running, right here, right now, but we are in a global pandemic. I am part of a cabinet and I am part of a team that takes the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health very seriously.
I’m shocked that they never stand up when we invest an extra $25 million into our iconic arts institutions or when we invested an additional $62 million into iconic institutions that include the ROM and the AGO. They don’t stand up when we increase the budget to the Ontario Arts Council, but I’ll tell you what: 15 months in, they’re finally asking questions about the arts, the culture. I’m waiting for sport and I’m also waiting for heritage and I would love to have a question on tourism, because I’ve got to tell you, the hardest-hit sectors are the sectors that are part of this ministry and I find it galling that they stand up only today, 15 months too late.
Interjections.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The official opposition will come to order. The Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, come to order. The member for St. Catharines, come to order. Member for Ottawa South, come to order. The next question.
Getting Highway 427 up to speed
Mr. Stephen Blais: My question is for the Premier. Highway 427 is an essential project that was committed to and started by the previous Liberal government, under the leadership of Steven Del Duca. This government only needed to maintain that progress. Highway 427 was to meant to make lives better, create economic growth and unlock potential.
But lo and behold, under the leadership of this government, the highway is almost a year behind schedule. The Premier claims to be open for business, but he can’t even open a highway. Moreover, he has kept residents in the dark, leaving the people of Vaughan, Caledon and Brampton to hear about the status of the highway through media reports.
Why all the secrecy, Mr. Speaker? Will the Premier come clean on when the people of York and Peel can expect this already-finished Highway 427 to open?
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the Minister of Transportation.
Hon. Caroline Mulroney: This is a commercial matter between the government and the contractor. It’s appropriate that Infrastructure Ontario handle disputes on a commercial level. As this dispute has recently been escalated to litigation, I don’t have anything further to say on it at this time.
That said, our government is committed to delivering on ambitious infrastructure plans, which includes billions of dollars in transit and highways. Ontario is investing more than $21 billion in funding over the next 10 years, including approximately $2.6 billion in 2021-22 to expand and repair highways and bridges.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question.
Mr. Stephen Blais: We all read the minister’s love letter to the Premier in the Star this morning, but unfortunately, Highway 427 is still sitting there empty. The previous Liberal government already invested in this project and had shovels in the ground three years ago.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m going to caution the member on his language. That wasn’t appropriate. Please conclude your question.
Mr. Stephen Blais: Highway 427 is already a year behind schedule, but the Premier and the minister are unwilling to deliver this piece of infrastructure to the families of Vaughan, even though the highway is finished. It’s just sitting there, waiting to be used, Mr. Speaker. Families are spending a longer time getting home. All the while, the highway is just sitting there.
Interjection.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Hamilton Mountain, come to order.
Mr. Stephen Blais: When will the government finally open this important highway? When can the hard-working families of Vaughan expect their commute times to be reduced?
Hon. Caroline Mulroney: As I said, this is a commercial matter and it’s subject to litigation, so it would be inappropriate for me to comment at this time.
But I am heartened to hear the member opposite talk about the importance of investing in highways. He’s an opponent of Highway 413 and doing the important work that we need to do to evaluate whether or not it’s a project worth moving forward with. I’m glad to hear that he has had a change of heart and thinks that we should be looking at investing in highways.
Pay raise for child-care workers
Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: Child care workers in this province are at a breaking point. That’s the take-away from a recent survey of almost 2,000 child care workers by the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care and the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario. More than half of the workers reported decreased job satisfaction during the pandemic, and 89% of workers reported an increase in job-related stress.
Child care workers have gone above and beyond for children and their parents during the pandemic, but they are tired of being asked to do so much for so little. They’re tired of being ignored by this government.
My question to the Premier is, will you finally listen to child care workers and make the investments needed to raise their wages?
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond, the government House leader.
Hon. Paul Calandra: I would certainly agree with the member opposite that child care workers have been so important throughout this pandemic, Mr. Speaker, especially when you consider that they have also been on the front lines of ensuring that our essential workers could continue to do their work. Whether it was being available for our nurses, doctors, PSWs, they have done tremendous work, and I want to thank them for all of that work.
We’ve made a significant number of investments in the sector. The member knows, and I’m sure she would agree, that we certainly inherited a horrific system from the Liberals, just another part of the disastrous record of the previous Liberal government that saw daycare rates increase to some of the highest, if not the highest in Canada.
There is a lot of work left to be done in this sector, because we know how important it is to families of the province of Ontario that they have choice, whether they want their kids in an organized daycare or if they want other options. That’s why we’ve brought in a tax credit.
I understand that after the federal government brought in their first promise back in, I think it was 1993, with respect to child care, they brought another one forward—it seems to be like a Liberal calling card: Make a promise every single year and then never do it.
But we’ll work with them on this one, Mr. Speaker. We’ll see what they have to say. We’ll see if they can actually accomplish anything. We know that the previous Liberal government, four administrations in 50 years, did nothing in this sector, but we certainly will.
Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: All we hear from this government is “thank yous,” but thank yous don’t pay the bill. Thank you is not a mental health service. Yes, this government did inherit a sector that was in bad shape, and they have actually made it worse.
Improving wages and working conditions is important to addressing staff retention issues, something that has plagued the child care sector for decades, and the pandemic made things worse. Almost half period of the child care workers in the survey said they have considered leaving the sector permanently. If we don’t pay child care workers the wages they deserve, we will never be able to recruit and retain the thousands of additional workers needed to build a truly affordable and universal child care system.
Again to the Premier: Will you work with the child care sector to improve working conditions, and will you commit to implementing a wage grid that ensures no child care worker is underpaid?
Hon. Paul Calandra: We’ve been working with the sector right from the beginning but especially during the pandemic because we knew how important they were to ensuring that the essential workers could continue to do their jobs, and they have.
I’m not going to stop thanking them just because the opposition is tired of hearing thanks, Mr. Speaker. We will continue to do that because what they have done has been heroic and has helped us not only continue our economy in those essential areas but, more importantly, they have helped us ensure that essential workers like doctors, nurses and PSWs could continue to do the job that has led us to getting over nine million vaccines into people’s arms that has seen us bring that curve down. We have a lot to be thankful for.
There is a federal program again—and I share the member opposite’s worry as such. The federal Liberals have promised child care investments in the province of Ontario since 1993. I was 23 then. The member opposite probably wasn’t even born when the first promise was made. The previous Liberal government was a catastrophe and did nothing on it, but we will continue to work with them and anyone who wants to make serious investments—
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. The next question?
“He’s more worried about likes on Instagram than he is about getting his job done”
Mr. Roman Baber: To the government House leader: Today, we expect the province to announce if it will open schools. Yesterday, I asked the Minister of Education why schools aren’t open despite near unanimous advice, including advice from the chief medical officer to open the schools.
I predicated the question on a December study from SickKids that approximately 70% of Ontario’s children are experiencing increased anxiety or depression. McMaster Children’s Hospital’s saying that its admissions for teens and kids attempting suicide have tripled.
The government House leader took the question and decided to make a mockery out of it. Between my social media platforms, his answer was viewed answer was viewed more than 20,000 times with great interest and varying responses.
So I’d like to follow up with the House leader why the schools aren’t open and, specifically, was it appropriate for the government House leader to dismiss and make a mockery of the fact that more than 70% of kids are anxious and depressed and a joke in the context of admissions for teens attempting suicide tripling in the city of Hamilton?
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Government House leader.
Hon. Paul Calandra: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The gall of this member—I’ve just said in this House on a number of occasions that I have two children. I and I don’t need lessons from this member on what it takes to ensure that your kids have the ability to get through a pandemic.
The only person in this House today making a mockery of what we have faced as a province is the member for York Centre. He gets up in his place every single day. Yesterday, we heard the member suggest that it doesn’t matter how he voted. That doesn’t matter at all. The fact that he voted to ensure that the safety of people of Ontario in March, April, May, June, July, September, October, November and December—he said none of that matters. Those votes don’t matter. I think the people in his community might find that outrageous to learn that when he gets up and votes in this chamber, it doesn’t matter because he’s a flip-flopper. But for me and for us, it does matter.
Mr. Roman Baber: To the Minister of Finance: Last week, I heard from an aesthetician that she has no place to borrow anymore and that the only thing that’s left for her to do is sell equipment. I heard from a constituent in the travel industry that he’s closed to being ruined. I heard from a friend in the entertainment industry that they cannot make ends meet anymore, and they don’t qualify for assistant. I heard from members of the beauty industry of multiple suicides. I’m hearing from various professional services that they are down 50% to 60% and there are no more means to borrow. People are losing their homes, their marriages, their lives. Main Street Ontario is gone because this government failed to protect long-term care and added 200 ICU beds in 15 months and not one ICU nurse. None of these businesses are responsible for any spread, and it’s not COVID that killed these business, it’s this government that’s responsible for this catastrophe because of the Premier’s quest for approval ratings.
My question to the minister: Please don’t talk about how important small business is and the various programs that don’t work. Please save it and tell us: Will you open Ontario?
Hon. Paul Calandra: We will do so when it is safe to do so for the people of the province of Ontario. Unlike the member opposite, I and the members of this side of the House and the members on the opposite side of the House, with the exception of that member, care about the health and safety of the people of the province of Ontario. We may disagree often, but, collectively, we have worked very hard to ensure the safety and security of the people of the province of Ontario.
The member’s previous question highlighted all that he is about. He’s more worried about likes on Instagram than he is about getting his job done. He’s more worried about how many people look at his Instagram videos than making his vote count in this House. I know one thing is certain: Next June when the people of his riding have the chance to make a vote count, they certainly will, and that member won’t be sitting in that seat.
Interjection.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for York Centre, come to order. That concludes our Question Period this morning. I’d like to remind members that the supplementary questions that they ask during question period should be consistent with the initial question and follow logically.