I will take one second, as a member of the class of 2006, to welcome back the member from Nepean. Welcome back, sister—courage.

Speaker, since the beginning of this year, Ontario’s ERs have been closed more than 100 times. Those closures are happening in rural areas, places like Chesley. Their ER is closed until the end of November because of a shortage of nurses. Just a few weeks ago, most of Chesley’s residents packed into a meeting to fight for their community hospital. This government has left Ontarians with no credible plan of action to address the crisis in our health care system.

For the Premier: Why has the Minister of Health neglected her duty during this difficult period?

There are consequences when health care isn’t there when people need it. Recently, Eleanor wrote to me about the passing of her daughter, Amelia. Amelia was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, and she was diagnosed late, with her screening pushed from November to February. By then, her cancer was so advanced, the only thing doctors could do was palliative chemotherapy.

Eleanor is a retired nurse. She knew that Amelia’s diagnosis was likely fatal, but with earlier screening and better access to care, Eleanor believes Amelia would have lived more than the five short months from diagnosis.

Speaker, these are real-life impacts of the government’s inaction on health care. Will the Premier and minister commit to meaningfully invest in our health care workers so there are no more stories like Amelia’s?

In September, a four-year-old child with a broken arm was left waiting more than four days for minor surgery at McMaster Children’s Hospital. These types of delays can have dramatic impacts on growing kids.

Speaker, these tragic stories are driven by staffing shortages that are now commonplace. How much worse does the crisis in our health care system have to get before the minister and the Premier give nurses and front-line health care workers the support that they need?

My question is to the Premier. Ontario’s health care crisis is getting worse by the day. Over the last week alone, there were overnight and weekend closures at Chesley hospital, Durham hospital, Walkerton and St. Mary’s, which was closed for a week. And just this morning, the Kemptville District Hospital announced its ER would be closed for the next six nights.

Doctors and front-line health care workers are very clear: This is a staffing crisis, and forcing seniors into private long-term-care homes is not going to solve that crisis. Why is the Premier saying no to front-line health staff who want to solve the staffing crisis?

Will the Premier start taking steps today to address this crisis, starting with a repeal of the disastrous Bill 124?

The Premier talks about the status quo. There’s nothing more status quo than Conservatives privatizing health care. Asking nurses and health care workers to accept cutbacks and pay freezes has been the status quo that this Premier has created. Public hospitals need proper funding and resources to maintain quality of care and to maintain safe working conditions. Nurses and health care workers need support, not wage freezes.

How many ERs have to close before this government gets it?

My question for the Premier: According to Dr. Michael Warner, the OR at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto dropped to using just two out of 10 operating rooms at 4 p.m. That’s eight operating rooms sitting empty for more than 12 hours per day.

Why is the government choosing to send surgeons, nurses and funding to private, for-profit clinics while operating rooms in our hospitals sit idle?

Why is this government refusing to use the operating room, CT and MRI capacity we already have?