Good morning, Speaker. It feels good to be back. Colleagues, it’s good to see you all.

Last Thursday, I had the honour of joining the member from Eglinton–Lawrence and the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health in announcing that the Grand River Community Health Centre in Brantford will receive $1.7 million; the Six Nations of the Grand River Family Health Team will receive $1.8 million; and De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre will receive $264,700.

This combined $3.8-million investment will allow over 14,000 new patients to be connected to primary health care in the province of Ontario and in my riding. These annualized investments will allow primary care teams to connect people to a range of health professionals, including doctors, nurse practitioners, registered and practical nurses, physiotherapists, social workers and dietitians, among others.

Timely access to primary care helps people stay healthier for longer with faster diagnosis and treatment, while relieving pressures on the emergency department and walk-in clinics. These investments into the Brantford–Brant community are keeping in line with our government’s other historic investments to expand medical schools and take down barriers so highly skilled medical professionals can practise in the province of Ontario.

I am proud to represent a government that prioritizes the health of Ontarians and is working to provide 98% of the province with primary care over the course of the next few years. I will continue to advocate for the resiliency of Brantford–Brant and will keep working to ensure that Ontario’s primary care system is more robust, public and accessible than ever.

Good morning, Speaker, and welcome back. It’s good to be back here, I think.

This question is for the Premier. Throughout the break, I was travelling all around this province. It’s pretty clear that people all across this province are hurting right now. They’re feeling the rising cost of everything from utilities to mortgage payments, groceries, rent. For workers in our hospitals, in our schools, in the broader public sector, they’ve also had to contend with their own government fighting to suppress their wages with Bill 124 and then with the costly legal battle and campaign to defend that bill. But the workers won, and the courts have ruled once again that Bill 124 was unconstitutional. It was an unconstitutional attack on the rights of working people and their paycheques.

So my question to the Premier is: Will he apologize to Ontario’s hard-working nurses, PSWs, teachers, educational assistants and all the public sector workers for suppressing their wages with Bill 124?

Interjections.

I’ll tell you, Premier, that did not sound like an apology to me. The government not only used their power to cut the wages of health care and education workers during a pandemic, they spent untold amounts of dollars fighting those workers in court for years, only to be told what we already all knew: The bill is and always was unconstitutional.

Speaker, through you again to the Premier—do-over—how much did this government spend on legal costs to keep down workers’ wages on Bill 124?

Interjections.

Bill 124 deteriorated conditions in hospitals, in long-term-care facilities, at the worst possible time. We were already struggling with rampant hallway medicine when this government came into power, and they managed to make things even worse. Burned-out nurses, health care workers have been leaving the sector in droves. They can’t get out of here fast enough with this government in power. And guess what, Speaker? Private nursing agencies, the friends of this government, have been ready to jump in and fill the gap, bleeding our hospitals dry at the same time, and demanding exorbitant fees for exactly the same work.

Speaker, back to the Premier: Will he admit his choices worsened the crisis facing our health care system and, once and for all, please, apologize to Ontarians for Bill 124.

Interjections.