Good morning, Speaker. This question is for the Premier. There has been an alarming trend of for-profit primary care clinics popping up all across this province. When Ottawa’s South Keys Health Center started charging $400 membership fees, the minister said she would investigate, but we haven’t seen any action from this government. They just shrug it off and blame it on the feds.

My question is to the Premier. Why won’t you uphold the values of universal health care and stop these for-profit clinics from charging hundreds of dollars for people to access primary care?

Since the minister has clearly taken the side of private companies charging these illegal fees, will the Premier stand up for the protection of patients or not?

Interjections.

There are countless publicly reported examples of patients who are receiving surgeries in private clinics who are told they have to pay for upgrades for already eligible services. At a time when 2.3 million Ontarians don’t have a primary care physician, at a time when the cost of living has become completely unbearable and they can’t find a family doctor, why is this Premier expanding for-profit health care that hurts patients and only benefits private shareholders?

Interjections.

This question is for the Premier. Last week, the federal government offered Ontario $5 billion in funding to help pay for housing-related infrastructure. All the Premier needs to do is legalize fourplexes and other missing middle homes. That’s the kind of action that we in the NDP have been pushing for, and it was even recommended in the province’s own Housing Affordability Task Force.

Why is the Premier saying no to legalizing fourplexes and putting billions of federal funding at risk?

Again, Speaker, they’re totally out of touch and not listening to the people of this province.

There’s a whole bunch of seniors—

Interjections.

Speaker, to the Premier: Will this government stop the predatory upselling that is happening across this province?

Mountains of evidence show that patients have been repeatedly misled by for-profit clinics that have recommended procedures people just don’t need. It’s how they make a profit. This government’s health act is going to do nothing to stop this, so we have proposed amendments to outlaw upselling in any form.

Speaker, to the Minister of Health: Will the minister accept the NDP’s amendments to protect patients?

It is absolutely critical for Ontarians to believe that their government is acting in their best interest.

Ms. Cooper’s experience shows us how patients will suffer under Bill 60, because private, for-profit clinics are going to upsell and cherry-pick their patients—private, for-profit clinics, some of which just happen to be major Conservative Party donors.

Speaker, to the Minister of Health: Who is making health policy in this province? Your donors? When will someone start putting people like Lois first?

There have been no answers from the government—no transparency. Thank goodness we have some accountability, because this morning, the Patient Ombudsman released their annual report. They received more than 3,000 complaints last year with one common theme: a lack of staffing and a lack of access to care.

Hospitals are struggling under this government’s staffing crisis, and, worse, the ombudsman is warning that this government’s expensive, ideological push toward two-tier health care is only going to prolong the issue.

My question is to the Premier. Will you stop taking nurses to court, get the lights back on in public operating rooms and get Ontarians the health care they need?

Speaker, it gets worse. Yesterday, we heard from experts in the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health at public accounts committee. They acknowledged that the lights are off in public hospital operating rooms while this government hands million-dollar contracts to for-profit clinics.

As our health critic asked multiple times yesterday, I want to also ask the Premier: Why are you denying public hospitals the opportunity you’re giving to for-profit companies for additional surgeries and diagnostic imaging?

The thing is, Speaker, this government’s plan, this two-tier plan, is unnecessary, it’s time-consuming and it’s totally wasteful. We already have the infrastructure we need to shorten the wait times. But because of this government’s staffing crisis, one third of Ontario’s operating rooms aren’t running at full capacity.

Speaker, to the Premier again: Will this government fund public hospitals to properly use existing OR space instead of giving those funds to for-profit clinics?

It really gives me great pleasure to welcome into the gallery here in the chamber former MP Peggy Nash and the Toronto Metropolitan University Women in the House program participants. It’s great to see you here.

This visit and this program are organized by former MP Peggy Nash, Dr. Tracey Raney and Zaima Aurony. Thank you so much for being with us here today.

This is already happening in private clinics and the government is working to expand it. What does the Premier have to say to these patients?

My question is to the Premier.

There’s no question that Ontario’s health care system is in crisis, but make no mistake, this crisis is by design. This government has underfunded our hospitals, held down the wages of our health care workers, and now, after years and years of neglect, the government has tabled a new bill that uses this crisis as an excuse to expand for-profit health care in Ontario.

Hospitals and long-term-care homes are already desperately fighting to retain nurses and doctors in what is really a staffing crisis across the system, and they’re now going to face competition from new two-tier investor-driven clinics. Nothing in this bill prevents that from happening.

Can the Premier guarantee today that these for-profit clinics will not poach staff from our publicly funded hospitals and long-term-care homes?

I want to go back to the Premier again: This bill also includes no actual oversight mechanism to ensure patient safety. The Minister of Health yesterday couldn’t even say which body would be overseeing these clinics to ensure that procedures are done safely—couldn’t even say that.

What concrete guarantees can the Premier make today regarding people’s safety in these for-profit clinics?

And the fact is, Speaker, the government is asking Ontarians to just trust them. But the minister said yesterday that they wouldn’t be able to share some details because of the—and I want to quote her—“business-model nature” of these new clinics. The minister says there are guardrails, but beyond saying people can complain to the Ombudsman, the bill doesn’t guarantee oversight for public funds or public safety.

So again: How will this government ensure that the interest of patients takes precedence over people who just want to make a buck?