Mr. Speaker, I sympathize with the Leader of the Opposition. She is correct that under the previous Liberal government, these types of programs became endemic, and we didn’t see, of course, any results with the previous Liberal government.

I remind the Leader of the Opposition that she and her party supported the Liberals throughout that time when they actually held the balance of power. What is so disappointing about that is that during that time of support, we didn’t see investments made in health care, transit, transportation. We didn’t see investments made to build new subways. In fact, they left us the most indebted sub-sovereign government on the planet. They left us the most over-regulated jurisdiction in Canada. They scared away 300,000 jobs. Throughout all of that, the NDP supported them. That’s the legacy of the previous Liberal government.

I’m glad the Leader of the Opposition finally recognizes the destructive nature of the—

There are so many people who have come to me—and I’m very passionate about this—and talked about the failings of the previous Liberal government which have left their families, their children without the ability to get care. And through it all, the NDP supported them.

Interjections.

Members will please take their seats.

Minister of Colleges and Universities.

I’m having difficulty hearing the Leader of the Opposition ask her question, so I’d ask the House to come to order so that I can.

Restart the clock. To respond for the government, the government House leader.

The government House leader will respond.

Start the clock. Supplementary question.

The Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

The final supplementary.

We answered this question yesterday, but I’m going to try to answer it again. One of the first things we did was speak to the mayors, speak to the first responders, speak to CMHA to find out what the immediate needs were. And we were there. We made those investments.

We also went out to Belleville and had the opportunity to meet with all the first responders and with the mayor and we discussed a plan that needs to be put in place. I drove out to Belleville and I spent the time with the mayor and the other service providers. Where were you? Where was the NDP at that point in time? You were busy making cat videos, I assume.

But let’s just talk about the reality of what’s happening in Belleville and everywhere else in the province. We are the first party that is making substantial investments in creating continuums of care in the communities, looking after everyone, and we’re doing it in a culturally safe way, not just in southern Ontario but—

It’s six years of failure, Premier.

My question is to the Associate Minister of Transportation. In my riding of Scarborough–Agincourt, constituents have raised concerns over the steep transit costs. At a time when many individuals and families feel like they are struggling to get ahead, paying a double fare is another added expense to their household budgets.

Speaker, commuters who travel daily to make a living are looking to us to make public transit more convenient and affordable. We must act now to lower transit costs. Can the associate minister please share what our government is doing to make transit more affordable across Ontario’s fast-growing communities?

Our government must remain committed to delivering real, tangible relief for Ontarians. Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on how one fare will keep costs down for the hard-working people in my riding and across Ontario?

My question is to the Premier. In the Auditor General’s annual report released last December, it was revealed that this Conservative government spent about $25 million on partisan ads. “The primary objective of these ads ... was to foster a positive impression of the government,” the report stated—$25 million spent on ads while Ontario experienced 203 emergency department closures; $25 million on ads while 2.3 million Ontarians did not have a family physician; and $25 million on ads while regions across northern Ontario declared a health state of emergency.

This government added insult to injury by opting for a Super Bowl ad, the most expensive ad on television, Speaker. Will the Minister of Finance or will the Premier please tell the citizens of this great province exactly how much of their money was spent on these fictional Super Bowl ads?

Interjections.

Speaker, not just one commercial from this government was aired during the Super Bowl; there were several commercials, which he’s bragging about.

In Waterloo region, I had—

Interjections.

Not just one commercial, Speaker; several. Money was flowing out of the Treasury Board from this place instead of people having access to doctors or to education.

In Waterloo region, I have a constituent who’s been waiting six months for a mammogram. Mammograms save lives. Is that a priority of this Premier? No, it is not. There are almost 300,000 people on a wait-list for mammograms. These tests save lives.

So I want to ask this Premier, who’s bragging about commercials in the LAX airport, can he explain to Ontario why he’s spending public money praising himself over the people of the province who you are elected to serve?

Interjections.

Mr. Speaker, I got a call this morning from someone who landed in LAX, and they said they got off the plane and all they saw is Ontario ads running all the way down the terminal. It’s in Chicago. They’re all over the US. Do you know why they’re all over the US? They’re our number one trading partner, Mr. Speaker. And when governors and senators coming up to me, when they come here—and said, “Wow, what are you doing? You’re eating our lunch.” We created more manufacturing jobs than all 50 states combined.

We saw an EV auto sector that both these parties, the Liberals and NDP, absolutely destroyed, chased the whole sector out of the province—$28 billion of investment, more to come this year; $20 billion in tech; $3 billion in life sciences. That’s the reason. They basically chased 300,000 jobs out of the province, and there are 700,000 more people working today than there were five years ago.

You need a lesson on market—

Mr. Speaker, we’re investing $28 billion in transit. In one sector alone, we’re building $70 billion worth of transit across the province. We’re investing $28 billion in highways and roads and bridges. We’re building hospitals. We’re building schools.

This is the place to open up business. Everyone knows it in the US. Again, Mr. Speaker, we’re eating their lunch. This is the place. If you want to do business, the world knows you come to Ontario. We have another $30 billion of investment coming to Ontario this year alone. Hundreds of thousands of people are going to collect a bigger paycheque, a better job because of what our government is doing. Thank God you guys are never going to be in government.

Interjections.

Thank you so much to the member from Scarborough–Agincourt for that question. Speaker, our goal has been always to provide Ontarians with affordable, reliable, and convenient transportation across this great province. That’s why, starting this coming Monday, February 26, under the leadership of Premier Ford, we are introducing eliminating one fare. That will save $1,600 every year.

Mr. Speaker, this program, the one-fare program, is fully funded by our provincial government, and this program will boost the ridership by nearly eight million new riders per year. That means eliminating gridlock and taking cars off the roads.

Our government will continue to put more money back into peoples’ pockets, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’ll get it right.

When a transit rider is going from one transit agency to another, moving from one city to another, no more do they have to pay this double fare. They are going to have an affordable payment, as well as a seamless transition between one transit agency to another.

We want to make sure—the Premier made it crystal clear: We want to stand for affordability. We will work with all the municipal boundaries, all the municipal leaders to make sure one-fare goes beyond—

Stop the clock. Again, I’m having difficulty hearing the member who has the floor, who was duly recognized to ask a question. I’d ask the government side to allow me to do so.

Start the clock. The Premier can respond.

Interjections.

The supplementary question.

The member for Carleton will come to order. The member for Sault Ste. Marie will come to order. The member for Kitchener–Conestoga will come to order.

Restart the clock. The member for Waterloo, I apologize once again for interrupting.

We’ll start the clock. The Premier can respond.

The next question.

The next question.

After six years of this Conservative government, the housing crisis has gone from a fire to a raging inferno. People are struggling, and yet Conservatives made new roadblocks for municipalities to access provincial housing funding. Conservatives even admitted that, to the government, building affordable housing is like “taking power away” and would “destroy the integrity of the free market.”

This Legislature is full of words about housing and little action. Speaking of words, at a time when no one can afford housing, would the Premier please provide a definition for his term “attainable housing”?

Back to the Premier: Across the province, the finance committee heard from municipalities who are breaking under the burden of providing affordable and supportive housing, yet this government has spent 18 months trying to figure out what their own words meant. It’s pretty embarrassing that this government uses slogans that literally mean nothing—literally nothing, even to themselves. It kind of reminds me of the kid who tries to give themselves a cool nickname, and nobody—and I mean nobody—actually uses that name.

When will this government stop using empty words and make good on their promise to make municipalities whole?

Thank you to the member opposite for the question. Our government has recognized that the status quo was not working and that more needs to be done, and that is why we launched our Your Health plan. We’re taking bold and innovative action to eliminate surgical backlogs, reduce wait times for publicly funded surgeries and procedures. That plan is working.

We want to have a strong home and community care sector as a key part of our plan, and we want to make sure that these resources are available across the province, including in northern Ontario. That’s why recently, as the minister said yesterday, we’ve announced new interprofessional primary care teams in the north, including in Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins and others. So we’re making sure that the care is there for the people who need it.

We passed legislation recently to further modernize the home care sector, integrating it with our Ontario health teams—Ontario health teams that are also being established in the north. Ontario is taking steps to have integrated care coordination, flexible care planning and delivery and needs-based care. We’re not focused on hours of delivery. We’re focused on patients, and we’re going to make sure that they get the care they need in the north and across Ontario.

For over a decade, the NDP propped up the Liberals as they cut medical residency positions, cut the number of physicians practising in family health teams and cut access to care, creating the longest health care wait times in Ontario’s history.

That’s why, one year ago, our government introduced Your Health, a comprehensive plan to make bold, innovative and creative changes to strengthen all aspects of our health care system, making it easier and more convenient for Ontarians to connect to the care they need closer to home. And we’re already starting to see results: We’re moving on over 50 hospital developments, including Niagara. That will add over 3,000 new hospital beds to the 3,500 we have already added since 2020—adding more beds in four years than the Liberals added in 14 years.

Ontario currently leads the country with over 90% of people connected to regular health care providers and we have added hundreds of medical residency positions specifically for family doctors across the province, but we can do better to improve access for people in Ontario not connected to primary care. That’s why, on February 1, the minister announced an investment of $110 million to connect over 300,000 more people to primary care teams. This will add over 400 new primary care providers as part of 78 new and expanded interprofessional primary care teams, and these teams will help people currently without a family doctor connect to primary care.

Together with Ontario’s largest expansion of medical school spots, while breaking down barriers for internationally trained doctors, Ministry of Health modelling shows that all of these initiatives together will connect up to 98% of people in Ontario to primary care in the next several years. We won’t stop until we get it done.

My question is to the Premier. Howard Meshake of Sioux Lookout is one of my constituents. His wife, Jeannie, had a stroke back in 2018, leaving her paralyzed and needing 24-hour care.

Speaker, he had presented to the pre-budget committee in 2020, and the government promised to help him access home care. So I ask this government: What is Ontario doing for Jeannie and others in the north who haven’t been able to access proper home care support closer to home?

Howard has spent the last five years trying to navigate a badly broken health care system, and things are just getting worse. His family continues to be ignored and abandoned by this broken system.

Speaker, this government made big promises in 2020, saying Jeannie would get the home care she needs to live in dignity, and nothing has changed. Will they ensure families in the north get the access to the home care they need—yes or no?

Interjections.

To respond, the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health and the member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

The member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

My question is for the Minister of Health. We saw the previous Liberal government here in Ontario stretch our hospitals to a breaking point in Niagara West and across the rest of this province. We saw that hallway health care, reckless mismanagement, out-of-control spending and scandals define their management of our health care system.

Since I was elected in 2016, I’ve been advocating on behalf of my constituents and all the people of Ontario for an improved health care system. I know that this Premier and this government are getting it done by prioritizing investments in our patients’ care when and where they need it.

So my question to the minister, Speaker, is: What is this government doing to ensure that every person in the province of Ontario has access to primary care when and where they need it?

It’s encouraging to see that this government is making record investments to help people in my community and so many others. I was pleased to see that 11 primary care organizations in the Niagara region actually received funding as part of a historic announcement into our area. From Wainfleet to Port Colborne, from Fort Erie to Grimsby, Niagara is going to be getting the convenient care that the people in our region deserve. A $2.4-million investment will mean that an additional 7,600 constituents are going to be receiving primary care. We know that every person in Ontario should have access to well-connected care when and where they need it, and that is exactly what this minister is working on.

Could the minister please elaborate on what this government is doing to connect people in every corner of our province to the care they need?

I know the member must be grateful for the 21% increase in homelessness funding in his riding, Mr. Speaker—not something that he asked for, but something that was delivered by the Associate Minister of Housing.

Let’s get this straight: The NDP sat here while the Liberals presided over obstacle after obstacle after obstacle in the way of building homes. The NDP have become so irrelevant in the discussion, really, haven’t they? Because they supported a decade and a half of inaction by the Liberals.

When it comes to building housing, people know that it is this government that’s going to get the job done. That is why, since the housing supply action plans that we brought in place, we have seen housing starts at their highest level in decades. And, Speaker, get this: Purpose-built rentals are at their highest ever in the province of Ontario—ever.

So unlike the Liberals, who put obstacles in the way, we remove obstacles and we deliver for the people of the province of Ontario and will continue to do so.

My question is for the Minister of Infrastructure. The previous Liberal government left many water infrastructure programs in Ontario underfunded and poorly managed. Under their watch, much of the infrastructure was in need of critical repairs and upgrades. As our government continues to build Ontario, it is essential for our municipal partners to have the tools they need to build stronger, more prosperous communities. That’s why we must invest in critical infrastructure to support our rapidly growing population, unlock more housing opportunities and spur economic growth.

Speaker, can the minister please share what our government is doing to support municipal water projects to help build more housing?

Speaker, despite our numerous calls to the federal government, they have not yet provided Ontario its fair share of infrastructure funding. The people of this province are waiting. They are waiting for the federal government to step up and address unmet infrastructure needs. We must all continue to build a stronger Ontario together through a responsible, targeted approach.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how our government is bridging the gap in housing and water projects while holding our federal counterparts accountable?

My question is to the Premier. Last November, 25 hospital CEOs in northern Ontario wrote a joint letter to your government about the precarious financial situation that they are in. In the letter, they outlined the fact that hospitals in northern Ontario have been directed by your minister to avoid closures of emergency departments, support surgical recovery and avoid reductions of hospital services. At the same time, they are expected to cope with the financial pressures of private agency staffing, the impacts of Bill 124, infrastructure costs and inflation, as well as the discontinuation of the locum incentive program on March 31.

Despite these pressures being communicated to the ministry, northern hospitals have received no funding to support their work, pushing many of our northern hospitals to the brink of having to consider drastic measures to continue to operate. Premier, why has your government ignored the request of northern hospitals and allowed them to reach this crisis point?

Northern hospitals are approaching a crisis that will impact services and will mean emergency closures, services suspended and potentially complete hospital closures. The situation is especially dire in small communities, where they deal with more complex delivery of care, work with fewer resources and are often the end-all and be-all of health care for a very large area.

Northern hospitals are poised for catastrophe. This crisis is real. Premier, these hospitals raised this alarm months ago. What are you waiting for?

Speaker, do you know who is very supportive of the work that we are doing to build more homes, to get roadblocks out of the way? It’s the mayor of London, who recently at a council meeting talked about how good the Associate Minister of Housing has been to help unlock housing in that community. Speaker, you will know the reason that London is in such a crisis is because, for far too long, Liberal and NDP members of Parliament have been there. But of course, with the Associate Minister of Housing on the job, we have been able to deliver a 63% increase in the member’s own riding when it comes to homelessness prevention.

The member talks about definitions. Well, I’m not sure what he’s talking about, because he actually voted in favour of our definition not long ago in a bill that was presented in front of this House—the “affordable” definition of housing, which he and all members unanimously voted in favour of.

What they’re worried about is that we’re actually delivering for the people of the province of Ontario, Mr. Speaker. I say to the member, don’t worry. Despite your inability to get the job done, we will.

The parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health, the member for Eglinton–Lawrence.

For over a decade, the Liberals, supported by the NDP, underfunded the health care system, closing hospitals and hospital beds, firing nurses and cutting medical school residency spots. Our government inherited a health care system under pressure due to failed policies of the previous Liberal government.

Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government has made record investments in health care. Since 2018, we’ve increased the health care budget by over $18 billion, investing $80 billion into the system in this year alone, and the total health care budget in Ontario is the same as that of almost every other province and territory combined.

Continuing their legacy of not supporting health care across the province, the Liberals and NDP constantly vote against our investments and bold innovative action by this government. We’ve seen an increase in new nurses and new physicians registering and starting to practise, and we’re going to make sure that we get it done for our hospitals across Ontario.

We’ll continue to support and work with our hospital partners who deliver convenient care to patients close to home.