Here are 10 outrageous things happening in our health care system under the Ford Conservative government:

(1) Some 2.2 million Ontarians are without primary care.

(2) Clinics charging an annual subscription fee simply to access primary care are growing.

(3) Hospitals are having to borrow money at high interest rates due to underfunding.

(4) Underfunding of hospitals has turned hallway health care into waiting room health care.

(5) Use of private agency nurses has exploded under this government’s watch, costing the system significantly more than hiring directly.

(6) Private clinics are renting space in public hospitals and being paid more for the same services, like cataract surgeries, leaving taxpayers with a higher bill.

(7) The Ontario government owes $6 billion in wages to the public sector, including health care workers, because their Bill 124 to cap wages was found unconstitutional.

(8) Over 280 emergency room closures in communities across Ontario due to underfunding, with people having to travel hours to access emergency care.

(9) Despite promises, still no coverage for take-home cancer treatments, leaving people to pay out of pocket if they don’t have private insurance.

(10) Pharmacists are being pressured by corporate offices at companies like Shoppers Drug Mart to do unnecessary medication reviews, which has cost the system as high as $1.4 million in one week.

Speaker, this government is delivering worse services at a higher cost, with questionable ethics. Are they so incompetent, or is this by design? Either way, Ontarians are getting a bad deal.

I have a petition here calling for the government to raise social assistance rates. Folks who are on social assistance, both Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program, are receiving amounts that are far below the poverty line. People who are on OW are receiving rates that have been frozen for over two decades, and those on ODSP have seen a very small increase to their rates and are still below the poverty line. This petition here is calling for the government to double OW and ODSP rates.

The rent control laws did exist for all units, but under the current Conservative government, that was cancelled, and so a lot of tenants in my riding and across Ontario are currently living in apartment rental buildings that are not covered under rent control. As a result, they’re seeing, year after year, their rents increase by double digits for absolutely no reason other than that the landlord can simply do it.

This is causing, of course, a tremendous amount of stress. It is a highly precarious situation for a lot of people in terms of their housing because how much rent can increase by is unpredictable. And so, in this petition, the residents are calling on the government to pass a bill that I’ve tabled in the House called “rent control for all units,” and I fully support and will affix my signature to this petition.

Speaker, health care services are exempt from the HST—including many health care services; however, psychotherapists are still required to charge HST. It makes no sense, for such an important health care service like psychotherapy, that Ontarians should be taxed on it. So this petition simply asks that the government of Ontario take that first step in removing the HST.

I have a petition here entitled “Save Ontario Place,” again, signed by residents of Parkdale–High Park and, of course, supported by residents from across the province, not just in Toronto.

Speaker, this petition basically calls on the government to halt any further redevelopment plans when it comes to Ontario Place. It also calls on the government to engage in meaningful public consultation, which has not been done for the current redevelopment plan, and to conduct a comprehensive, sustainable environmental assessment for Ontario Place, and for it to be carried out in a manner that values public space, that has proper oversight and public input, and that respects the democratic process.

I fully support this petition.

Mr. Leardi, on behalf of Ms. Thompson, moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill 155, An Act to amend the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario Act / Projet de loi 155, Loi modifiant la Loi sur l’Institut de recherche agricole de l’Ontario.

I want to thank the members for their contribution to the debate this afternoon, third reading of this bill. Actually, I want to commend the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, as well as her parliamentary assistants the members from Elgin–Middlesex–London and Chatham-Kent–Leamington. I think that it is unfortunately rare when a bill comes forward that has all-party support.

We have seen through committee work and, of course, through the advice of our in-house expert on rural and agriculture issues, the member from Timiskaming–Cochrane, who is part of our caucus, and everything I’ve heard, everything I’ve read and learned—this is a piece of legislation where I believe the process of good, solid public consultation was done before bringing the bill. I think that’s very important. I want to thank you for doing that.

I was wondering if you would share with the House a little bit more about that process, how much work went into the consultation. I ask this because it is so important—