Speaker, inexplicably this government doubled down, saying that the retention and—

Interjection.

Inexplicably, this government doubled down, saying that the retention and recruitment of doctors is not a major concern. Excuse me? Some 2.3 million Ontarians don’t have a family doctor, yet nothing is happening because we are told the cupboards are bare.

It is true that this year’s budget forecast a $10-billion deficit, and it is also true that in the past six years this government has added $86 billion to Ontario’s debt. So the money is being spent somewhere; just not in health care.

Speaker, I want to ask the Premier how he could possibly think that spending $1 billion to expedite beer and alcohol sales should be his priority instead of solving the family doctor crisis.

Speaker, I want to ask the Premier once again: How could he possibly think that the priority of this government should be renegotiating beer contracts instead of investing in the solutions that Ontarians urgently need?

This government insists on tightening the belt for everyone but themselves. They’ve cut the salaries of nurses and health care workers, teachers and education workers, even air ambulance drivers, but a quick look at the Premier’s office, and you will see his budget has exploded. His staff are being paid $6.9 million, the most expensive Premier’s office in history—not just in total, but 48 staffers are earning more than $100,000 every single year.

When this Premier was running for office, he said he’d be the one to stop the fat cats, to stop the gravy train, but he’s worse than any of his predecessors. Spending $6.9 million every year, the Premier is the most expensive Premier we’ve ever had, more than double any other Premier. When Ontarians face austerity, how will the Premier explain his runaway and self-serving expenses to the people of Ontario?

Now, it’s not a bad thing to reverse a bad decision, but you need to learn from your mistakes rather than continuing to follow an unintelligible ideology. “Measure twice, cut once” was my dad’s advice.

Why is the Premier okay with wastefully burning through Ontarians’ hard-earned tax dollars while expecting Ontarians to scrimp and save?