Well, just to follow up on his comments, my entire family voted for hours at the time for Elliot Lake to win. I now know every part of a bicycle, every part of a bus because, every now and then, they would ask you to do that again. I’m really proud that Elliot Lake won.

Something that I’m less proud about is the 25 small rural northern hospitals. Eleven of them are in Algoma–Manitoulin. They serve people who often have very low other access to help; the hospital is it. They do not have a family physician. There’s no nurse practitioners around. You depend on the hospital for pretty much all of your care.

Those hospitals have seen 280 emergency room closures. They have seen 1,200 hospital program closures. Most of them come from small and rural hospitals. I’m curious to see, did you see anything in the budget that will reassure the people of Algoma–Manitoulin that they will have access to care when they need it?

Questions?

Question?

Well, first, what I will tell the member is, you’re darned right. Elliot Lake and actually Team Ontario—there are so many individuals that pool together to support Elliot Lake with Hockeyville, and I tell you, it was great for the community to win the $250,000, but what you can’t put a price tag on is the sense of community that came out of that initiative for Elliot Lake and the fact that it brought people together—not just Elliot Lake, but the region, like, from Gore Bay all the way up to Wawa. I got calls from people in Windsor who said, “Listen, I’m voting for you.” Heck, I even got a call from a member of the opposition saying, “We’re voting for you, Mike. We’re going to get this done.” Again, I want to thank you for supporting that initiative.

You’re right, there are some things that are a reannouncement. What I made in my initial comments is, yes, there are going to be funds for the swing bridge on Manitoulin Island. Yes, there’s $50.5 million that the government permitted me to do the official announcement about in Blind River, which I was surprised there was no official government representative there at the announcement. But it just goes to show you that—

I don’t know how much clearer I can put this to this government, but northern hospitals, they are in crisis, and this government needs to take action in order to assist them.

At the last hour, once again, we got this government to extend the locum incentive program. But by the time you made that announcement for the hospitals, those hospitals, who were looking forward to hopefully securing that funding, were trying to secure doctors, but those doctors that would have been available to the communities have now moved on, are now scheduled for other communities. So they’re scrambling, once again, to make sure that their hospitals and their emergency departments stay open over the course of the summer.

I want to thank the member from Algoma–Manitoulin for his address this morning. I also want to congratulate him and commend him for doing what we all do here, and that is to stand up for the people who send us here each and every time there’s a general election, the people in our constituencies, because that is and must be our first priority.

No budget solves all of the problems individually, and he has pointed out some of the things. We have challenges in our own ridings that we would hope there’d be enough money in this budgetary session to take care of, but we also know that we have to be patient and many things take longer than we’d like.

But the member did say—and I do want to congratulate him on Elliot Lake being chosen the winners of Hockeyville. That’s a great honour, and congratulations to the member and to all of us here in Ontario. That’s two years in a row that Ontario has had the Kraft Hockeyville.

But can you tell us some of the things that you do like in the budget? Because you are considering voting in favour of it. I’d love to hear that from the member.

Well, again, I will say there was a nugget when it comes to the Northern Health Travel Grant, but it’s a small nugget. It sounds big; it sounds like the government is putting some significant amount of dollars—which is $45 million—towards accommodations for individuals, which will mean instead of getting $100 on their first night of accommodation, they will get $175, and that will be reduced on subsequent nights.

Now, if the government wanted to do something substantial to the Northern Health Travel Grant, they could have looked at increasing the travel mileage. Heck, we don’t have a problem doing that for the people that are in this room. Why can’t we do it for those that are most vulnerable? Because most of those individuals that are most vulnerable are the ones that need it the most.

Merci à mon collègue. Ce matin, quand tu as parlé des routes dans ton allocution, on voit qu’il y a tellement d’investissements dans les routes dans le Sud, mais quand ça arrive aux routes comme la 11, la 17 et, encore pire, les routes secondaires comme, tu as mentionné, Dubreuilville—je peux penser à Hornepayne; je peux penser à la 655, la 144, que le monde du Nord utilise beaucoup—bien là, l’investissement n’est pas autant. J’ai aimé ton—quand on voit les cônes et on voit les poteaux. Ça, on voit ça souvent sur les routes secondaires.

J’aimerais entendre que l’investissement—et on sait qu’avec tout le développement du Nord, les ressources viennent du Nord; elles ne viennent pas du sud de l’Ontario. Et qu’on voit nos infrastructures, nos routes, nos ponts, tout ce qui est entouré pour ramener ces ressources-là dans le sud de l’Ontario, puis que le Nord soit oublié—j’aimerais entendre plus là-dessus.

Ce que je veux dire par ça : c’est de l’infrastructure dont on a besoin dans le Nord—nos routes, nos ponts, nos chemins. C’est ça qui nous donne accès à nos emplois. C’est ça qui nous donne accès à nos événements récréatifs. C’est ça qui nous donne accès à nos soins de santé. Puis, on ne les voit pas. On voit des pratiques qui ne sont pas idéales pour les gens du Nord.

Puis, je pense—il y a eu une demande. Ils vont être ici, là, dans une autre deux semaines : Good Roads. Good Roads vont être ici. Et dans leur demande, ils ont demandé que le gouvernement fasse une revue en général de l’infrastructure de tous nos chemins. Est-ce que nos chemins sont bâtis pour accommoder la transportation et puis les gens, les équipements qui sont en train d’utiliser nos chemins correctement aujourd’hui, avec les capacités qu’on a aujourd’hui? Ça, c’est une bonne suggestion que j’encouragerai ce gouvernement de prendre. C’est une bonne revue de tous nos chemins à travers la province.

I know that there was something that the member from Nickel Belt and also you have shared has been essential for your constituents. I wonder if you can share a bit more about what you were hoping to see in terms of the northern travel health care funding.

Well, thank you very much, and my partner from Kitchener kind of stole my thunder a little bit on that question. Because I know you’re very passionate about the northern Ontario travel grant, you and I have talked about this previously. I’ve had some family experience with it as well, and sometimes it can be a little bit cumbersome, but I think there are some good things on the way.

I did want to hear a little bit more from you as to what you think some of the changes or beneficial changes could be. Obviously, seeing the accommodation amounts go up to $175 is a good start. What are some other things that you would like to see that are real, plausible, tangible things that we might be able look at in the future?

Further questions?

I’m thoroughly enjoying the debate this morning on the budgetary measures in the province of Ontario.

I am going to start my remarks today at a point where the member from Mississauga–Lakeshore left off. I had heard him making remarks not particularly on this specific motion, but on budgetary items, and they were one-hour remarks. Right at the very end, he said something that I found very important, and I’m going to elaborate on that.

Before I do that, though, I did want to make some comments about the member from Mississauga–Lakeshore, because I find that in this assembly there are many interesting people with fascinating qualifications and backgrounds, and we don’t spend enough time talking about those fascinating backgrounds and qualifications.

I wanted to take an opportunity to just tell the assembly a little bit about my colleague from Mississauga–Lakeshore, who has been inducted into the order of the Knights of Malta. The order of the Knights of Malta is a very ancient order; it’s a thousand years old. It started in the city of Jerusalem. The Knights of Malta were attacked and expelled from the city of Jerusalem, and then they took up residence on the island of Cyprus. They were attacked again and expelled from the island of Cyprus. From there, they took up residence on the island of Rhodes. They were then attacked again and expelled from the island of Rhodes and took up residence on the island of Malta. They were then besieged in what is known as the great Siege of Malta of 1565, which they withstood, and withstood the test of time and survived today as a charitable organization doing good works for people around the world.

We are lucky that the member from Mississauga–Lakeshore is actually a member of this august order, the Knights of Malta, and I did want to take an opportunity to recognize him for that and congratulate him for that.

At the end of his one-hour presentation with regard to financial matters in this House, he touched on something which I felt was very, very important. He said, if I may paraphrase what he said, that in 2018, the total revenue for the province of Ontario—that is to say, the treasury of the province of Ontario—was approximately $150 billion. And today, the total revenue for the province of Ontario—that is, its governmental operations—stands at over $200 billion.

The member from Mississauga–Lakeshore properly observed that that is an increase of over one third in revenue, and that has been accomplished entirely without raising a single tax and without raising a single fee. That is quite an accomplishment. To raise the governmental revenues by one third over the course of six years without raising a tax and without raising a fee is an accomplishment and a very good one and a very important one.

I’m sure if the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade were here, he would give a very brief, succinct and very good explanation of how that was done. I’ve heard him give that explanation before, and I’m going to try to give that explanation now, because it’s important. I think that the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade would say that we were able to increase the revenue of the government of Ontario without raising taxes and without raising fees by doing some very specific things. He would start by saying, “First, we lowered the cost of doing business.” And by saying that, he would give examples, such as reducing the cost of WSIB premiums and other costs associated with doing business in the province of Ontario, to the point where we attracted so much business into the province of Ontario that many, many, many companies—from small ones to large ones to multinationals—are now investing in the province of Ontario, creating jobs, creating economic activity, and thereby increasing the revenue that is being collected by the government of the province of Ontario.

That would be a great success story, and I think it is a success story. I think it’s the success story of the last six years, encapsulated by the fact that this government has not raised a single tax or fee in six years. In fact, we’ve done the opposite.

That brings me to the budget that’s before us now. I have made some reference earlier to pages 71, 72 and 73, which set out a brief host of affordability measures that the government has undertaken, and, by doing so, demonstrating that not only have we simultaneously increased revenue but, at the same time, decreased taxes and decreased fees.

I would like to take this opportunity to mention just a few, and the one that I refer to most commonly is the reduction of the gasoline tax, which saves approximately 10 cents per litre on gasoline. That’s particularly important for people in the riding of Essex and, I would suggest, very important to people in other rural parts of Ontario, because we don’t have mass transit in Essex county. In fact, it’s impossible to deliver mass transit in Essex county because of the rural nature of the riding. And so people have to rely on their cars and their trucks. Every time you fill up your truck or every time you fill up your car and every time you take a trip, whether it’s to the grocery store or whether you’re bringing your kids to the arena or the soccer field, or whether you’re bringing your kids to dance class, you have to take a private automobile of some sort. There are a few exceptions, but very small exceptions to that rule.

And so every time somebody drives across the county of Essex to deliver their kids to wherever they’re going, there’s a cost involved in that, and we’ve reduced that cost by 10 cents per litre, which, accumulated day in and day out, really makes a difference for people, because I can tell you that the most common expense that people have is to put gas in their cars.

Related to the transportation in rural areas is also the cost associated with owning a car and licensing a car and permitting a car. Those costs, as we know, Madam Speaker, have either gone down or been frozen. For example, we removed the fee for the licence plate sticker on automobiles, which saves the average family approximately $240 per year. And that’s an important measure, because that’s an extra $240 per year that people now have to put their kids in soccer or to buy dance classes or simply to celebrate a birthday.

I think that’s an important cost-saving measure. It’s an affordability measure and it helps everybody. It doesn’t help just a certain group of people; it helps everybody who owns a car or a truck, and certainly helps my constituents in the county of Essex. I just thought I would highlight those two measures, which I thought were particularly important.

On that, Madam Speaker, I move that the question now be put.

No further business.

Last Friday, our government announced the launch of the Bereavement Support Program, committing over $3 million to support families of first responders and public safety personnel with rapid access to vital mental health supports. The funding will support free bereavement counselling to those grappling with the loss of a loved one who was killed in the line of duty or has died by suicide.

It was an honour to make this announcement in our esteemed town of Aurora at Station 4-5, alongside the Solicitor General and the Minister of Health, a place that embodies the spirit and dedication of Central York Fire Services. Situated at the heart of our community, this station stands as a symbol of safety and resilience, soon to be renamed in honour of our dearly departed Fire Chief Ian Laing, a fitting tribute to his enduring legacy.

This announcement underscores our government’s commitment to those who serve us with such bravery. Our first responders and their families make immense sacrifices. Supporting them through all circumstances is not just our responsibility, it is our profound duty.

Thank you to the families and loved ones who stand beside Ontario’s public safety personnel as they bravely serve and protect Ontarians. Thank you.

Gord Singleton: I want to rise today and speak about someone who was an important member of our community, the fastest man on two wheels, Gord Singleton. As one of Canada’s greatest cyclists, Gord was an Olympian, a national champion, a world champion, a world record holder, a generous and dedicated local business owner, but most importantly, he was a devoted husband and father. Gord received the Order of Canada and was inducted into the sports hall of fame. He was a true champion.

After a battle with prostate cancer, Gord passed away on March 24, and we lost an amazing member of our community. Myself and my entire office offer our condolences to the Singleton family.

Gord’s passing is a difficult reminder of how pervasive and common prostate cancer is among men in our province and country. We know that when diagnosed early, nearly 100% of men will survive at least five years after a diagnosis. But right, now Ontario remains one of the last provinces in the country to cover PSA tests under OHIP.

We’ve worked hard with the Canadian Cancer Society to push this government to do the right thing and expand coverage of PSA testing, including introducing a number of motions to grant coverage to men with a doctor’s referral. The more men that are tested, the more lives we save.

Let’s celebrate Gord’s legacy to our province and our country and expand the necessary health care services to ensure we detect prostate cancer early and save men’s lives. Rest in peace, my friend.

In April, members of the Sikh community celebrate Sikh Heritage Month. The month of April holds significance for the Sikh community as Vaisakhi marks the birth of the Khalsa, and the Sikh faith is celebrated during April.

During this time, Sikhs across the world take time to reflect on the teachings of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who established the Khalsa Panth. The values that Guru Gobind Singh Ji embodied and promoted were courage, selflessness and preaching equality.

Throughout April, Sikh Ontarians will be participating in various parades to celebrate the birth of the Khalsa and to promote the Sikh religion and values. As such, during these parades, Sikhs can be seen giving back to the community through the act of seva, which is selfless service.

One of these parades will be taking place at Nathan Phillips Square on April 28, and anyone, regardless of ethnicity or religion, is welcome to come visit, celebrate and learn more about the Sikh religion.

Speaker, it is the time to seize this moment to celebrate Sikh Heritage Month with optimism and a commitment to building a brighter tomorrow, where we continue to embrace diversity and promote inclusivity and, together, we move forward towards a future where unity, understanding and respect for diversity prevail.

Mr. Leardi has moved that the question be now put. There has been over nine hours of debate, with 24 speakers. I am satisfied that there has been sufficient debate to allow this question to be put to the House.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard a no.

All those in favour of the motion that the question be now put, please say “aye.”

All those opposed to the motion that the question be now put, say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

A recorded vote being required, this vote will be deferred until after question period.

Second reading vote deferred.

The House recessed from 1005 to 1015.

The Ottawa Food Bank is seeing new people every day. More and more food bank clients are employed people and families coming from two-parent households, blurring traditional poverty lines.

Cort Sarion’s family have been clients of the Ottawa Food Bank. She said last week, “We are all equally teetering on the precipice of falling into one bad year, month or day away from ending up on the street, not one good year away from making millions.”

Food insecurity in Ottawa has doubled, with a 68% increase in visits since 2019. Other food banks across Ontario have reported similar increases in visits. Food insecurity across the province is a direct result of the rising cost of living, and my community of Ottawa–Vanier is really struggling to keep up. Minimum wage in Ontario is $16.55, but the minimum living wage in Ottawa is set at $21.95. Are we really okay with knowingly paying less than what people need to survive?

As I reflected on the Ottawa Food Bank’s 40th anniversary event, I was reminded of the importance of addressing food insecurity and implementing direct policy solutions. Before the Ottawa Food Bank reaches 80 years, let’s support the hard-working families in Ottawa and beyond coping with the rising cost of living.

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.

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure to attend the 100th birthday celebration of Joe Baxter at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 406, Barry’s Bay. I had the honour of bringing greetings to Joe, his family and the packed house, and to congratulate Joe on his amazing achievement. Joe then sang along as I treated him to a couple of his favourite Irish songs, When Irish Eyes are Smiling and Danny Boy.

It was then Joe’s turn to take the mike. I have known Joe for close to forty years. Joe has gravitas and draws a crowd wherever he goes. Well, he went on to educate and entertain the folks for 45 minutes. That’s right: not four to five; 45 minutes. He treated us with stories and his memories of growing up on a farm near Ottawa and the challenges that it presented, but also how grateful he was to be raised in that environment. He spoke of when his father died young and how many of those responsibilities were passed on to him.

Joe then went on to work for the Bank of Canada, interrupting that career to serve overseas during the Second World War. Following the war, he returned to the Bank of Canada, retiring after 40 years, only to be asked to come back. Well, he worked for another 37 years, retiring permanently at the age of 93.

Joe is indeed a very remarkable man, blessed with a wonderful family and admired in his community. His vitality at 100 is hard to describe, but easy to admire. His energy makes us all feel young again.

The great Waylon Jennings once said that if we could all sing the way we wanted to, we would all sing like George Jones. Well, Speaker, if we can all live to be 100, I think we’d all like to live it like Joe.

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of taking part in an event that has been going on in my riding since 2008. The humanitarian group Kids Against Hunger held their annual One Million Meals Peterborough. Their original goal, back in 2008, was to make a million meals for those experiencing malnutrition. Volunteers each raised $65 to help pay for the food that was packed.

We had ground soy—because it’s higher in protein than meat—rice, a mix of ground vegetables and minerals and dehydrated vegetables. All the food was mixed together in a bag of about 400 grams. When you boil that with water for half an hour, it provides enough nutrition for six people for an entire day. And the genius of the process is that you don’t need to start with potable water. By boiling the water for half an hour, that makes it potable.

Speaker, more than 330 people volunteered their time to pack these bags, and I’m proud to announce that, by the end of the day, we had filled enough bags that we surpassed 900,000 meals made since 2008.

I want to give a big shout-out to the Drain Brothers, who will be warehousing the food until it can be shipped where it’s needed, and to EG Gray transport for shipping the cases of food to the port for us. Saturday’s food is destined for Haiti to help in that humanitarian effort.

I really want to thank all of the volunteers who gave their time to make a difference for people they will never meet.

Intimate partner violence is an epidemic. Agencies that support women have long been sounding the alarm. We have many local organizations that have been working to ensure women are safe and supported when leaving abusive situations, so that they and their children can be safe and have hope.

Luke’s Place is based in Oshawa but has been reaching its arms and care wide to serve women and children across the province. Pamela Cross, who has long served as the legal director at Luke’s Place, has been calling on all of us to take action.

Rates of violence have escalated, and women’s ability to access justice is worse. We need investment into legal aid and legal supports for women, as many women fleeing abuse are not working with a lawyer. The province could fix it if it chooses to.

The YWCA in Oshawa gets ministry funding for 15 violence-against-women beds, but they have more than 15 beds that they have to fundraise to use. These beds are for women leaving in the middle of the night with a child under their arm, the clothes they’re wearing, and hopefully some identification. There’s growing need, and funding doesn’t go as far as it used to. Also, women have to stay in those emergency shelter beds longer because they can’t find safe housing, and that means those emergency beds are already full when another woman comes looking for safety. It is unimaginable that a woman fleeing for her life and the lives of her children might get turned away. We need funding for more women.

After the terrible murders of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Nathalie Warmerdam, the Renfrew county coroner’s inquest yielded 86 recommendations. I’m glad that the region of Durham resolved to adopt the number one recommendation and declared intimate partner violence an epidemic.

Today, again, we call on the province to show leadership and be clear in declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic in this province, for the women who live with fear and harm, and for the women who have been murdered in this epidemic of gender-based violence.

Women’s lives have value, and this province has to do better.