Speaker, I’d like to welcome guests Kate Azure, Lynn Blaxley, Nick De Carlo, Gail Fairley, Moya Beall, and Henry Lowi, here with Seniors for Climate Action Now.

I want to go back on this. I listened to the minister last week. I listened to him today. I’ve heard about how wonderful things are, how he has things in hand, and how now no one else can do as well as him.

Well, this year he may get the chance to give exactly that same explanation to frail seniors whose air conditioning cuts out because the grid can’t handle the demand. Maybe he’ll get a chance to talk to corner store owners who lose freezers full of food because the power isn’t there. Maybe he’ll get talk to seniors who are overheating because the grid can’t keep up.

Closing his eyes, pointing fingers in every direction, claiming that he’s in great shape isn’t going to make the problem go away.

Speaker—

Interjections.

Interjections.

My question is to the Premier. This week, elderly and frail patients in alternate-level-of-care beds will start being charged $400 per day to remain in hospital. Advocates told this government yesterday that the $400 fee is a “bludgeon” and used “to coerce [seniors’] consent.”

To make matters even worse, this government is willing to move frail, elderly patients into homes that could actively be in COVID-19 outbreak or that had a large number of deaths during the pandemic.

Speaker, does the Premier think it’s acceptable to move elderly patients into homes with poor pandemic track records or homes with active COVID-19 outbreaks?

Again, to the Minister of Long-Term Care: This government should have the health and safety of every Ontarian on their mind each time they put forward new policies. But with Bill 7, the government is asking frail, elderly Ontarians to shoulder the burden of an underfunded and understaffed health care system. That’s simply not fair.

The government should be investing in the health care system, in our nurses, and in our health care workers. That’s where they should be putting dollars. Ontario seniors and their families deserve to know that when they choose to go to a home, their needs will be met.

To the minister: What criteria are hospitals directed to follow to determine if a long-term-care home has suitable staffing levels, equipment and care protocols for a patient to be moved there without compromising the quality of their care?

To the Premier: Yesterday, the Premier was asked about the fees his government wants to impose on seniors to force them into long-term-care homes that they don’t want to go into. He said, “I’ll pretty well guarantee it’s not going to be $1,800.”

Will the Premier make an absolute guarantee today that no senior will be charged that fee?

These numbers, these charges may not matter much to the Premier, but it’s literally a matter of life and death for many seniors across this province.

The government is ramming Bill 7 through today with virtually no debate. They refuse to hear from families and front-line workers who say this bill will be devastating.

And now the Premier is literally not giving any guarantees about what people will be charged.

If we can’t get a guarantee that $1,800 is not on the books—how much does the Premier think seniors should be charged?

Will the Premier do the right thing, admit that this dangerous scheme was rushed, and pull Bill 7 today?

To the Premier: Yesterday, the government confirmed that they would be saying no to the front-line workers and families who say Bill 7 will be devastating for them.

Forcing seniors to pay steep fees and move hundreds of kilometres away from loved ones is not a solution to our health care crisis.

Will the government do the right thing, pull Bill 7, and start listening to the front-line workers and families who can give us the real solutions to the health care crisis?