I have a very timely petition here on international Women’s History Month.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Bill 124, titled Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 2019, capped salary increases at 1%, at a time of historic rates of inflation and interest rates;

“Whereas the nursing crisis has compromised patient safety and the functioning of our public health care system;

“Whereas emergency rooms are closing and even ICUs are at risk of having to close because of health care staffing shortages”—and we just heard about one right now;

“Whereas an Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruling released on Tuesday, November 29, 2022, by Justice Markus Koehnen says that the law infringes on the rights to collective bargaining and freedom of association and declared the act to be ‘void and of no effect;’

“Whereas the courts have declared this legislation to be unconstitutional;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately repeal Bill 124, Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 2019.”

Speaker, I fully support this petition, will affix my signature to it and give it to page Emelia to take to the Clerk.

I have a petition here that I’m pleased to present.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Bill 124, titled Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 2019, caps salary increases at 1%, at a time of historic rates of inflation and interest rates;

“Whereas the nursing crisis has compromised patient safety and the functioning of our public health care system;

“Whereas emergency rooms are closing and even ICUs are at risk of having to close because of health care staffing shortages;

“Whereas the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruling released on Tuesday, November 29, 2022, by Justice Markus Koehnen says that the law infringes on the rights to collective bargaining and freedom of association and declared the act to be ‘void and of no effect;’

“Whereas the courts have declared this legislation to be unconstitutional;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately repeal Bill 124, Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 2019.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature to it and give it to page Riya Azaredo, who will take it to the Clerks.

My question is to the Premier.

Last week, the Minister of Health said that primary care physicians should treat more children so they do not have to go to emergency rooms. However, the reality is that 1.8 million Ontarians don’t have a regular family physician to even go to in these situations. OHIP-covered virtual care has been one of the last resorts that parents and their sick children have had to find immediate medical help, which this government is gutting, leaving parents with a cost of about $29 a month.

Our government is allowing for private ventures like KixCare to charge for virtual pediatric visits.

Dr. Aviva Lowe, a pediatrician who consulted on KixCare, is urging the provincial government to maintain access to virtual care. She said, “Pediatricians ... will no longer be able to offer virtual visits for patients”—and she went on to talk about how it’s unequal for people who don’t have family doctors.

My question is, at a time when there is a crisis, why is our government gutting essential services like OHIP-covered virtual care?

Lionel, a parent in Scarborough Southwest, reached out to our office about his recent experience. After getting sick, the only way his family was able to get medical advice and a prescription was through virtual service.

Our government is allowing for profit to be made from essential services like health care and fundamentally taking away the right of Ontarians to publicly funded primary care.

In a CBC article, Leah Littlepage, another Ontarian, talked about her 16-month-old daughter, who stayed out of the emergency room four times in the past year because of virtual care.

The system that you have come up with for virtual care is not working.

My question is, at a time when pediatric hospitals are overrun, especially for infants and babies, and we need to have virtual care service that actually covers these people, like these parents, why is this government taking away options that are available—that are available to save kids—

I have a petition here to stop Premier Ford’s health care privatization plan.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontarians should get health care based on need—not the size of their wallet;

“Whereas Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones say they’re planning to privatize parts of health care;

“Whereas privatization will bleed nurses, doctors and PSWs out of our public hospitals, making the health care crisis worse;

“Whereas privatization always ends with patients getting a bill;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately stop all plans to further privatize Ontario’s health care system, and fix the crisis in health care by:

“—repealing Bill 124 and recruiting, retaining and respecting doctors, nurses and PSWs with better pay and better working conditions;

“—licensing tens of thousands of internationally educated nurses and other health care professionals already in Ontario, who wait years and pay thousands to have their credentials certified;

“—making education and training free or low-cost for nurses, doctors and other health care professionals;

“—incentivizing doctors and nurses to choose to live and work in northern Ontario;

“—funding hospitals to have enough nurses on every shift, on every ward.”

Speaker, I fully support this petition. I will affix my signature to it and give it to page Scarlett to give to the Clerks.

“Petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas neighbourhoods across the GTA have been unfairly targeted by discriminatory practices in the auto insurance industry;

“Whereas people in marginalized neighbourhoods are penalized with crushing auto insurance rates merely because of their postal code;

“Whereas GTA drivers with clean insurance records continue to be gouged by this unfair practice; and

“Whereas Ontarians are facing skyrocketing costs of living, and auto insurance companies continue to make record profits;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to end postal code discrimination and price gouging in auto insurance and pass Bill 12, Ending Automobile Insurance Discrimination in the Greater Toronto Area Act, 2022.”

Speaker, I fully support this petition, will affix my signature to it and give it to page Alex to give to the Clerks.

I have a petition here to repeal Bill 124:

“Petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Bill 124 caps salary increases at 1% at a time when inflation and interest rates are at historic highs;

“Whereas the nursing crisis has compromised patient safety and the functioning of our health system;

“Whereas emergency rooms are closing and even more ICUs are now at risk of having to close because of a health care staffing shortage;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to repeal Bill 124 as a step to recruit, retain and return nurses to the health care system, and allow for fair wages for nurses and health care workers.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature to it and give it to page Oriana to give to the Clerks.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas very little is known about the long-term effects of vaping on youth; and

“Whereas aggressive marketing of vaping products by the tobacco industry is causing more and more kids to become addicted to nicotine through the use of e-cigarettes; and

“Whereas the hard lessons learned about the health impacts of smoking, should not be repeated with vaping, and the precautionary principle must be applied to protect youth from vaping; and

“Whereas many health agencies and Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada fully endorse the concrete proposals aimed at reducing youth vaping included;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To call on the Ford government to immediately support efforts addressing the dangers of vaping for youth.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my signature to it and give it to page Mabel to give it to the Clerks.

I would like to introduce Munaiba, who has just joined our legislative office this week as a placement student.

Ontarians and people across my riding of Scarborough Southwest are anxious. Our health care system is in a crisis. Staffing levels are at an all-time low. We are seeing a mass exodus of health care workers who have been on the front lines since 2020, protecting our province in the face of COVID-19. We’re hearing about ERs closing their doors, patients waiting up to 24 hours. And now, this government is forcing for-profit, private solutions to public problems that people have entrusted us to solve. This is unacceptable.

Every single one of us in this chamber, regardless of party lines, have been entrusted with a responsibility to represent hard-working, tax-paying Ontarians, many of whom have come from across the world with skills and experience and want to contribute to the health care sector. Free access to health care—universal health care—is at the core of who we are as a province and as a nation. It is universal health care that made sure that when my family faced an unimaginable tragedy, we did not fall through the cracks. I know my story is not unique; many share this, many rely on our universal health care.

It is a big part of why I am here today. We all carry an immense responsibility in this chamber to protect the people of Ontario and protect the values that make our province great. And today, I plead. I am calling on the government to protect our universal health care system that makes sure people get the care they need when they need it, and not only when they can afford it.