Speaker, I know they spent millions of taxpayer dollars on those ads, so they want to get their money’s worth, but what if I told you there is a province where two million Ontarians cannot find a family doctor and we have a Premier who is not doing his job?

We are very proud to be joined in the House today by steelworkers from the great city of Sault Ste. Marie. They’re here to ask for help after 10,000 patients were notified that they’re going to lose primary medical care at the Group Health Centre. The centre was founded by steelworkers. They agreed to payroll deductions to build it and to support workers and their families, and it came with an agreement that they would receive health care for the rest of their lives. Now, with those physicians retiring or resigning, there is no one to replace them. That’s the reality in the province of Ontario: There is no plan for the founding members or the historical commitment made to them.

So I want to ask the Premier, what is this government doing right now to address the urgent crisis in primary care in Sault Ste. Marie?

In total, more than a quarter of the population of Sault Ste. Marie is slated to lose access to primary care. That’s unacceptable to me, and it should be unacceptable to this Premier. Speaker, the official opposition NDP is joining steelworkers and retirees in the call for an immediate strategy to recruit and deploy primary care doctors and health care professionals to Sault Ste. Marie and to other communities in northern Ontario deeply impacted.

To the Premier: When will this government commit to the recruitment and retention strategy for health care workers in northern Ontario?

Interjections.

Speaker, the steelworkers of the Soo understand the need to protect health care today and into the future. That’s why they have suggested immediate solutions that will continue to pay off for years and years to come and include a plan to support internationally trained doctors to practise in this province. They’ve called for an expert panel as well that’s going to help expedite the training and mentoring that’s needed to bring doctors to communities like Sault Ste. Marie.

Speaker, these solutions could be implemented immediately. They could have been implemented yesterday if this government had the political will to do so.

To the Premier: Will he stop making excuses and act now to urgently bring doctors to Sault Ste. Marie?

Interjections.

If these patients in Sault Ste. Marie lose access to their primary care doctors, they’re going to be forced to rely on those increasingly crowded emergency rooms for their basic needs. The closest emergency room outside of Sault Ste. Marie is four hours away. We heard today of somebody who waited 15 hours recently who also has lost their doctor.

Access to primary care should not depend on where we live. Across the province, I am hearing from countless, countless Ontarians who are worried about losing access to health care as well. For doctors, it’s not just about staff or office spaces, it’s also about housing and transportation and access to other services. It’s impossible for hospitals and clinics to recruit health care workers when there’s no accessible housing or transportation—

Interjection.

Interjections.

That answer simply isn’t good enough.

Taxpayers are already on the hook for millions of dollars for an elite, private spa that absolutely nobody asked for. The government is committing the province to a 95-year lease, and they’re moving a cherished public institution and all of its jobs from its home community into a much smaller space.

Through you, Speaker: Couldn’t the Premier at least reveal the business case for these decisions?

We heard from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority on this. The TRCA was not consulted, of course, so they’ve been forced to explain that these lands are not safe to build on. It’s on a ravine.

The government is piling one bad idea onto another bad idea here in a half-baked scheme that is losing credibility by the day. Why would any reasonable person take their word for it that this plan is in the public interest?

Speaker, my question is to the Premier: Will this government investigate these very serious allegations and do its part to put an end to cash-for-access culture in amateur hockey?

Akim Aliu, who the minister just mentioned, is with us here today in the members’ gallery. He’s a former NHL player with the Calgary Flames and chair of the Hockey Diversity Alliance. He came to this government, to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, months ago. Months ago, Akim showed the minister documents that formed the basis for these allegations, but nothing happened on the provincial end. He is hoping and he is demanding that this cash-for-access culture end and that kids are able to play based on their ability and their talent, not if their parents are able to buy them a spot on a team.

Back to the Premier: Will this government launch a public investigation into these allegations and close any loopholes that may allow numbered shell companies to buy and sell kids’ hockey teams?