Point of order?

Further questions?

I recognize the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

I recognize the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

Interruption.

I’d like to thank my colleagues for their presentations today on the budget bill.

My question is for the member from Thunder Bay–Superior North. I was very interested in your comments about front-line health care workers who have been recommending a health care human resources strategy that focuses on recruitment as well as retainment. Most importantly, one of the things that has been recommended is the need for wage parity across health care sectors. Specifically, actually, the finance committee’s own report on the pre-budget consultations mentions the need for wage parity. I’d like to ask the member: How important is this, and would you like to see this reflected in the government’s budget?

My question for the member for Parkdale–High Park: This government seems to have ignored the crisis that is going on, and I’d like to know: Would you like to see further investments in education and education being brought back to the cuts that they’ve made since 2018 to address what’s going on in schools?

Thank you very much for the question.

Wage parity is critical. We know that physician assistants have two years of training and make quite a lot more than nurse practitioners, who have six years of training. So nurse practitioners are very unsettled in their positions right now because they don’t have wage parity with peers, or even with peers with less training than they have, and therefore, they are leaving. They’re either setting up private practice or they’re leaving the province altogether.

I will say, absolutely, the NDP supports the development of mining and the attempts to bring more industry that may lead us to EVs and heat pumps and so on. There are a lot of things that stand in the way of that. But, again, if the government is not prepared to get free, informed, prior consent from all impacted First Nations, they are not doing their job; they’re not doing their due diligence. So lots of these things may never happen, because you’ll be tied up in lawsuits. So, yes, I’d like to see these things happen, but I have concerns that they won’t under current policies.

I’ll ask another mining question. Frequently, what happens among Canadian jurisdictions and other mining jurisdictions is that we compete for investment. For years, Ontario was a leading investment jurisdiction for mining, and then we slipped behind Quebec, because Quebec introduced a mining strategy that helped mining companies get started. Then we came up with our mining strategy for junior mining companies, and now we’re back in the number one place; we’re ahead of Quebec again, and that is, in part, I would submit, because of the policies in this government and set out in this budget.

So my question to the honourable member across the way is, does she support the policies that put Ontario into the number one position for junior mining companies in Canada?

It’s $43 billion. That is more auto investment landed in the province of Ontario than in any other jurisdiction, including every US state. That’s what’s happening. That is this powerhouse that is Ontario. The global automakers are choosing Ontario because we are at the centre. We are now the actual centre of the global electric vehicle revolution that is under way.

Speaker, I could continue to talk for quite a while about EVs, but I move that the question now be put.

Mr. Fedeli has moved that the question be now put. I’m 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, please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

A recorded vote being required, it will be deferred to the next instance of deferred votes.

Vote deferred.

The House adjourned at 1717.

Wow, $43 billion?

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Interjections.