 It is now time for oral questions, and I recognize the leader of his Majesty's Royal Opposition. Good morning, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Yesterday, this government had a chance to show their commitment to ensuring that primary care for everyone is a priority by supporting our motion to put patients first. They voted against it. Instead of working with healthcare professionals, they're making weaker funding announcements that amount to a drop in the bucket, and it is a leaky bucket. Doctors and healthcare workers say it shows the government doesn't understand the scale or urgency of the problem. So my question is to the Premier. Why are you refusing to listen to the clear demands of patients and doctors? Through the Chair, to reply, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Thank you, Speaker. Yesterday we had an opportunity to choose primary care multidisciplinary clinicians, professionals, healthcare professionals. You chose administrative staff. We are going to stand with our clinicians, with our primary care providers, to ensure that across Ontario we continue to expand primary care in the province of Ontario. While the NDP cut by 10% the number of physicians who were able to train in the province of Ontario, while the Liberal government of the day cut physician services and seats by 50 per year, we are making the expansions necessary to get it done. Here, here, here. A supplementary question. Eker, you don't have to take our word for it. The government should just listen to family doctors themselves. They're saying that the government's funding announcements are, and I want to quote them here, a feeble attempt to address the crisis in family medicine. They called the government's announcement as useful as an umbrella in a hurricane. Speaker, there are 30,000 people in Kingston, 60,000 people in Hamilton, and half a million people in Toronto without a family doctor. And that is just a fraction of the over 2 million Ontarians who need access to primary care right now. Back to the Premier, we gave you the solution. Go to the Premier. Why did you vote against the solution that everyone else supports? I want to remind members to make the comments through the Chair. Minister of Health. To stand with the Ontario Medical Association who stood with us when we made that announcement of 78 primary care expansions in the province of Ontario, they absolutely understand the value and importance of multidisciplinary teams. You know, I think of primary care in Peterborough where we made the announcement, quote, I'm very pleased that the government is making this investment in primary care. The funding of a community health centre will bring huge gains in our community and the significant provincial investment will deliver positive returns benefiting the entire health care system. Wow, that's great. That was the day that I stood with the member from Peterborough and made the announcement of 78 primary care announcements. And since that day, we have had community health care, family health teams, CHCs standing with us and saying thank you for making improvement to primary care. Thank you on behalf of the patients in Ontario, the clinicians in Ontario and ultimately the health care system. Final supplementary. Speaker, the OMA's leadership have called this government's decisions clueless. Clueless, right? Public health care staffing has completely deteriorated under this government. There is ongoing neglect. There is disruptive disrespect from this government that has pushed thousands and thousands of health care workers out of the sector. Hospitals and long-term care homes are forced to hire agency nurses. That's costing them two to three times what a staff nurse would cost to maintain those service levels. This is hemorrhaging health care dollars from our health care system. And let's not forget, speaker, under this government's watch, there were 868 emergency room closures and 316 urgent care centre closures. So back to the question. How many more emergency rooms and urgent care clinics need to close before this government takes this health care staffing crisis seriously? Thank you, speaker. I'm going to quote from Kim Moran, who is, of course, the Ontario Medical Association's CEO. The OMA has been advocating for increased investments in teams to improve access to care and ensure doctors and health care professionals are able to do what they do best, care for patients. There are benefits to team-based care for both patients and providers. So our goal is to get every Ontarian access. This announcement to triple the original funding plan is a significant move in the right direction. The OMA, the OHA, the family doctors of Ontario understand what significant investment this means to the people of Ontario. It is sorely disappointing that the NDP and the Liberals don't seem together. Thank you. The next question, once again, the Leader of the Opposition. Speaker, and my next question is also for the Premier. After repeatedly being ignored by this government, frontline health care workers are taking matters into their own hands. Registered nurses at Brantford Community Health Care have called an independent assessment committee to investigate chronic understaffing in their emergency department. Nurses are worried about being able to maintain service and safety standards that patients desperately deserve. Access to safe and timely care is being delayed because of these unsafe staffing levels. So to the Premier, when will this government implement safe staffing ratios in Ontario, like the NDP government in BC has done? Good Minister of Health. Speaker, you know, as I hear the member opposite raise these issues, I think, where were you? Where were you as an NDP staffer under an NDP government when they were making cuts of 10% to the health care family position budget? When the NDP and the Liberals propped up by the NDP, we're cutting primary care positions in the province of Ontario by 50. Now, 50 doesn't sound like a lot unless you start comparing that with the expanded population that is happening in Ontario. The growing seniors population that needs to be served, we have absolutely made those investments, whether it is in colleges and university, with my minister of colleges and university, expanding the number of healthcare positions available, whether it is for nurse practitioners, for family physicians, for primary care paramedics in Northern Ontario. These are significant investments that are going to make an impact in the decades to come. Thank you. Thank you very much. Please supplement your questions. Speaker, I would ask the Minister of Health where she's been. While our health care system has been falling into desperate disrepair under this government for the last six years, big action and they're getting results. They've seen improvement in recruitment and retention among health care workers. They are only the second jurisdiction in North America that's implemented these same staffing ratios. But here in Ontario, here in Ontario, it's pretty clear that this government is not taking this staffing crisis seriously at all. That's not only having an impact on those overworked health care workers, but it's having an impact on the patients that they serve. So I want to go back to the Premier. Again, will Ontario join BC and become a leader in health care by implementing staffing ratios? Is he content with the status quo? The Minister of Health. I have no intention of joining any jurisdiction that has fewer last wait times and poorer outcomes than the province of Ontario. Ontario leads our Ministry of Health data. That is chi-high data that is aggregated over all Canadian jurisdictions. So Ontario is leading Canada in our wait times. Now, can we do better? Absolutely. Which is why I am happy to put our record of increasing access to training, to international, educated primary care practitioners, clinicians against any other jurisdiction because we are leading Canada. We now have over 12, 35 more nurses reporting for employment and registered with the CNO. Why? Because we are making the changes necessary to make sure that people have access to good employment, good jobs in the province of Ontario, in our health care system, and we've made those changes. Thank you. Supplementary question. Speaker, the Minister needs to get out of the back rooms and start listening to Ontarians. If she thinks that we're doing well in the province of Ontario, that's a good boy. 2.2 million Ontarians without access to primary care, operating rooms, collecting dust. We have some of the best health care workers in the world. But we can't retain them. They're leaving faster than we can recruit them. This government has no strategy, no strategy to recruit and retain and return nurses to our hospitals and our long-term care homes. Our long-term care homes, our hospitals, are relying increasingly on staffing, on private agency nurses that are bleeding the system dry. To the Premier, I want to go back again. How many more emergency rooms, how many more urgent care centres have to close before this government implements solutions that actually work in the province of Ontario? I'm going to ask the independent members and the government front bench to stop pointing fingers at each other and heckling while the Leader of the Opposition has the floor. Please start the clock. Minister of Health. The member opposite can throw all the insults around she wants, but the facts actually paint a very different story. Last year we had a record-breaking 17,000 new nurses. Most of those are in fact internationally educated. 30,000-plus nurses are studying in Ontario colleges and universities and 24,000 new physicians. Even the expansions that we've made to ensure that we have more physicians training in the province of Ontario, we have set aside 60% of those to be primary care practitioners. Why? Because we see the value in primary care. Because we see the value in those multi-disciplinary teams. We will continue to do that work and it sounds like the member opposite and her party will continue to oppose those changes. But we're getting the job done to make sure that people have access to multi-disciplinary team primary care physicians in the province of Ontario. Final supplement. No. New question. I apologize. New question. I find the minister that all the studies show that if we stay on this track, a quarter of Ontarians won't have access to health care by 2026. So will she see what she's saying then? Speaker, my question is for the Premier. The Information and Privacy Commissioner's Office has ordered the Ministry of the Solicitor General to turn over records of which OPP officers worked at the Premier's Family Stag and Doament. We know these are the records that the government has refused to share with journalists through freedom of information requests. We know the RCMP is also investigating this matter. The Premier has denied there were extra officers on the site, but he's going to great lengths to withhold the details. So to the Premier, can he confirm how many OPP officers were assigned to work at his family's Stag and Doament? Government House Leader? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As I said in our previous discussions, we'll allow these authorities to continue their work, and I have every faith that they can do it on their own. Supplementary question. I was a bit hard to hear, Speaker, but basically said it was nothing. Speaker, I want to remind the Premier that he is not above the law, that the police don't work for him and that they work for the people of Ontario. Through explosive reports about this Premier's family's Stag and Do, the reports revealed a deeply troubling pattern of a government that continues to help us select few of their friends at the expense of everybody else. And now we're waiting for the results of an RCMP criminal investigation into this government's conduct. So my question is to the Premier. Did the RCMP have to step in because of concerns about the Premier's close relationship with the OPP? Government House Leader? Well, I would certainly hope that the Premier of the province of Ontario has a close relationship with the Ontario Provincial Police, Mr. Speaker. I am keenly aware that the opposition consistently advocate for policies that would defund the police. They consistently advocate for positions that would make it easier for people who commit violent crimes to get on the street. They support the Liberals who have done that. Look, progressive conservatives will always stand with our frontline officers who do extraordinary work each and every day. I will leave it up to the opposition leader and her friends in the Liberal Party to explain to the people of the province of Ontario why they support catch-and-release policies, why they have reduced bail, why they don't support us when we want to build more sales. When we want to ensure that our communities are safe, they want to defund police, and they're helped by that by the Liberals, Mr. Speaker. We'll go in a different direction. The next question, the member for Newmarket Aurora. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Energy. The carbon tax is making life more expensive for everyone. Last week, as I was knocking on doors in my great writing of Newmarket Aurora, every single door, every person I spoke to, spoke to me about their concerns and their frustrations, about the impact of the federal carbon tax that it's having on their daily lives, specifically their essential needs. They want the federal government to address their concerns and make life more affordable for them and for all Ontarians. But Speaker, the federal Liberals and opposition parties only want to hike this regressive tax. After next month's increase, Ontarians will be paying 17.6 cents extra on every liter of gas, costing them hundreds of dollars each year. Speaker, can the Minister please explain how the federal carbon tax negatively impacts the people of Ontario and what our government is doing to provide financial support? Minister of Energy. Mr. Speaker, it's contemptible, actually, what the federal government is doing in introducing an increase to the carbon tax in 13 days' time at a time when people are in the midst of an affordability crisis. As the member rightly points out, she's talked to members in her community, all of us, I know, have talked to members in our community about how difficult it is to pay for the grocery bill. And it's more and more difficult to fill up your gasoline tank for your vehicle. Mr. Speaker, we need vehicles to drive it out rages that the federal government is increasing the carbon tax by 23% on April 1st. You know what's even more reprehensible is the fact that we couldn't get an answer again out of the Queen of the Carbon Tax, Bonnie Cromby, this morning, when she was having a press conference, but whether or not she supports the federal carbon tax that's about to increase in 13 days, Mr. Speaker. Response. The Ontario Liberal Leader needs to come clear to the people of Ontario if she's supportive of the federal carbon tax increase on April 1st. Supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. And it's not only our government that is calling for the end of this federal carbon tax. Over the past few weeks we have seen premieres from across the country, including the Liberal Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, call on the federal government to pause that April 1st carbon tax increase. And last fall, the NDP Premier of Manitoba said natural gas home heating should be exempt from the tax. That is why it is so astonishing that the Liberal and NDP members in this legislature continue to work against any efforts to make life more affordable for Ontarians and not call for the end of this carbon tax. Speaker, can the Minister please explain more about the negative impact that the carbon tax is having on so many Ontarians? Minister of Energy. You know, Mr. Speaker, I've got to give some credit to the Ontario NDP caucus. At least they've joined us in a couple of votes asking for the federal government to remove the carbon tax from home heating fuels. So they understand the difficulty that it is having with the people of Ontario. What I can understand is given the track record of the previous Ontario Liberal Government a record that increased hydro rates by tripling them during their period in power, Mr. Speaker. And now seeing the impact that the carbon tax is having on the people of Ontario and the people of Canada why they can't have that conversion, Mr. Speaker. It's not that difficult to understand that this is negatively impacting the people of Ontario. And you know what they should be standing with us and advocating to the Prime Minister to stop the tax increase on April 1st, but instead the Queen of the Carbon Tax, Bonnie Cromby said this morning to the media in her interview the PM doesn't need my advice. It's her job. It's our job in the Ontario Legislature to represent the people of Ontario. They want the tax going. Thank you. The member for Kiwet now. Mr. Speaker, in Northern Ontario hospitals have been struggling to keep their emergency room doors open for years now. The program that allows them to hire local doctors from Southern Ontario as a temporary fix is coming to an end. What is this government going to do to make sure our ERs in the North stay open? Mr. Health. Thank you, Speaker. The member opposite raises an important issue. There is no doubt that our temporary local programs have been a very effective tool that we have been able to use working with Ontario Health to make sure that emergency departments in Northern Ontario but frankly across many communities in Ontario have emergency department coverage of physicians. And I will say as a result of that program we have seen no closures in Northern Ontario EDs in the last year. Without a doubt, it has been a program that has had value. We are in active conversations with the Ontario Hospital Association and the Ontario Medical Association to see how we can come forward with a more permanent solution but I will keep the member updated because it is an important issue. Thank you. Supplementary question. Speaker, one of the things that is happening in the North is there are continuous unnecessary suffering. There are needless deaths. It is a healthcare crisis. Speaker, the temporary local program was a short-term fix to make sure the ERs in the North did not have to close. The people of Northern Ontario need permanent solutions so our ERs stay open so our people are safe. Speaker, March 31st is 12 days from now. What is the status of this program? Minister of Health. The member opposite was the local program has been a valuable addition but we also I heard need a more permanent solution. I agree on both points. When we made additions and expansions in Northern Ontario School of Medicine we had 60% of those seats set aside for family medicine. That is 100 additional seats where people are training in Northern Ontario and the statistics show that where you train where you ultimately practice and where you continue to practice is close to where you learn. So we know that making those investments in primary care healthcare teams in Northern Ontario at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine are going to make an impact in your communities in Northern Ontario and indeed across Ontario. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you very much. The next question. I recognize the member for Leeds, Grandville, Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes. My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. When it comes to attracting investments the competition from across the globe is a fever at their disposal to secure investments that create good-paying jobs and strengthen their economies. We know that fostering the conditions for a robust, low-cost business environment is crucial to landing important investments but unfortunately we're playing a bit of tug-of-war with the federal Liberals when it comes to taxes and costs. We're lowering taxes and cutting costs but while the Liberals continue to hike taxes and continue to drive up costs every chance that they get their upcoming carbon tax increase on April 1st is just another example of this. Speaker, can the Minister explain to the House how by lowering costs and cutting taxes we're able to secure important investments? Great question. Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you to the economy. We have shown the Liberals that lowering taxes is how you create those conditions. Now here are some new facts this year, Speaker. In 2023, Ontario attracted 137 foreign direct investments. Now that brought in 11 billion dollars from outside of the country into Ontario. That has created 12,000 new good paying jobs right across our province. In fact, Speaker, a new statistic today. Ontario has the largest number of FDI projects in Canada and from 2018 to 2023 more jobs were created from foreign direct investment into Ontario than every US state and every Canadian province. That's what happens when you cut taxes, lower taxes, scrap the carbon tax. Supplementary, the member for Leeds-Grendel, Townsend Islands and Rideau Lakes. Thanks to the minister for his answer. It's unfortunate that the Liberals that see all the progress that our government has made and yet they still want to jeopardize it with the ever-increasing carbon tax. But what's even more disappointing is even when prominent NDP and liberal politicians including the Liberal Premier from Newfoundland and Labrador have all come out against the carbon tax. We can't even get Liberals and NDP in this house to call on their federal counterparts to oppose this tax. I've heard from plenty of businesses plenty of households in my riding who are concerned about the increase in the carbon tax and I'm positive Speaker that Liberal and NDP members are hearing the same thing when they were in their riding last week. Speaker can the minister please share with us what he's hearing about the federal carbon tax. Minister of economic development job creation and trade. We were in Texas last week meeting with tech firms and they couldn't understand the Liberal carbon tax. They asked us well doesn't this punish your businesses doesn't this hurt your households in Ontario but we assured them as business to business that we're doing our part to keep their cost slower we've cut 500 pieces of red tape saving businesses a billion dollars annually. We told them that they can write off their new equipment in year saving them a billion dollars a year that we're cutting the price of gas and fuel taxes by 11 cents a liter. We told them that all of these fundamentals are in place to keep their cost except for this carbon tax. That's why we urge the feds to scrap the carbon tax. Next question the member for Niagara Centre. Speaker through to the minister of health yesterday morning I was at a rally in Niagara for EMS workers who are members of QP911 they were sounding the alarm about ambulance wait times and code zeros that are happening far too often they're telling us that in Niagara there are ambulances due to offload delays and inadequate staffing to the point it is putting the public in danger what does the minister have to say to the workers in Niagara EMS who are asking for help and support because they're working in dangerous situations every day and don't have the resources or staffing to answer calls on time or do their job safely Minister of health I say to I say to paramedics across Ontario our government has always been there as a 55th department with municipalities whenever there is an expansion of either primary care paramedics or the actual rolling stock of the ambulance the provincial government is a 50-50 partner and we will continue to do that in terms of wait times and ensuring that ambulances and paramedics can very quickly effectively get back out onto the road into our communities we have a number of programs that the member I hope opposite is aware of which of course is the dedicated offload nursing program a program that is funded 100% by our government and that ensures that we have a dedicated staff member whether it is a nurse a respiratory technologist or a paramedic who stays with that patient until they can get a service in their ED department that program alone has made significant increases decreasing the number of wait times supplementary question tell you those workers don't feel that this government has been there for them Joey de Rocher reached out to my office in Welland in January his knee pain became so unbearable that he had to go on modified duties at work x-rays showed he had severe arthritis when he was referred to a clinic he was told the process would take well over a year I don't understand how people can be expected to suffer through something like this yesterday this government had a chance to free up thousands of doctors to see more patients and chose not to what specifically will this minister do to ensure people like Joey can get timely access to a doctor and the care they desperately need Minister of Health stating the obvious expanding primary care multidisciplinary teams by settings the amount that we initially committed because we know that there is need we now have because of investments that our government has made with the minister of colleges and universities 300 new student paramedics training in the province of Ontario including in northern Ontario where there is a learning state program available for them to get their training for free in exchange for staying in communities that are underserved we will continue to make these investments for their opposite their party continue to oppose them every time we vote on these investments but we are getting the job done thank you next question for the minister of health Mr. Speaker I am tired of the people of Ontario getting ripped off by this government's health care privatization agenda when the minister of health welcomes private for profit clinics with open arms that's not actually a surprise anymore but when the minister chooses to ignore blatant violations of the Canada health act that is another thing entirely in October of 2023 it came to light that a nurse practitioner walking clinic in Ottawa was charging a $400 annual subscription fee to access fee for service care and at the time the minister told us that she would investigate that was almost half a year ago and in that time many more clinics were closed in across Ontario like the one in Ancaster that was announced just last month Mr. Speaker her inaction is literally creating a market for health care profiteering in Canada and in Ontario we must make good on the promise of primary care how can anyone trust this government to manage our health care system if it cannot even enforce the basic tenets of the Canada health act minister of health Speaker to be clear the member opposite reference the Canada health act this is clearly a loophole that the federal government needs to shut down we have had conversations with the federal minister of health saying if there is an opportunity if there is a wedge that is allowing these clinics to help then perhaps the member opposite could pick up the phone and call their federal counterparts because lots are making if the Canada health act allows these for-profits then we will be shutting them down with the changes to the Canada health act and federal government involvement supplementary question Mr. Speaker it must already be lunchtime on the government side because that was baloney I would like to remind the minister about the commitment to the future of Medicare act which is Ontario legislation that forbids that practice as well so she can take control of that herself even if we overlook the fact that it took six months for her to come up with that response the fact of the matter is closing the loophole either through provincial or federal legislation should be easy instead of taking the many measures at her disposal to make family medicine more attractive and accessible to credential more foreign doctors all the minister can do with the conversations that she is supposedly having with the OMA and CPSO with literally nothing to show for it this government is more than happy to make patients pay while they appease private interests Mr. Speaker will the minister stop placing the financial burden of primary care on patients and commit to funding it for everyone so that no one ever faces a fee regardless of whether they're seen by a family doctor or a nurse practitioner stop the clock I'm going to caution the member on his use of language Bologna is pretty close to the line the minister of health you know speaker I've been in this chamber a long time and I have to say that the insults the threats really are below you so the college of physicians and surgeons of Ontario in August of 2023 less than two months after starting my role as the minister of health the CPSO was able to assess review and ultimately license when appropriate the historic highest number of internationally educated primary care physicians in the province of Ontario so actions do make a difference we did the same thing with the minister's directive of Ontario again two years running speaker we have had historic high numbers of internationally educated nurses wanting to live practice in the province of Ontario those are concrete changes that we are making to impact people's lives and increase access to publicly funded health care again I'll remind the members to make their comments to the chair the next question the member for Perth Wellington speaker just for the record I'm a roast beef guy so thank you for that my question is to the minister of energy speaker the federal carbon tax the federal carbon tax makes life more expensive for the people of Ontario after years of punishing energy costs that are rocked sky high the prime minister announced that he was pausing the carbon tax but only on home heating oil and only for three years families and businesses in my riding of Perth Wellington that grow the food that build our province every single month are being punished by this carbon tax speaker they can't afford the high taxes on the opposition and the NDP members speaker and speaker our government understands this that the carbon tax only takes money out of hard working people's pockets and that's why we fought it this ludicrous tax all the way to the supreme court speaker and we will continue to fight it for keep going forward speaker can the minister please tell this house why the federal government's selective carbon tax exemption hurts Ontarians minister of energy sadly speaker I can't answer the question it's mind boggling that the federal government hasn't realized that they're hurting the people of Ontario and they're hurting the people of Canada with this failed policy the carbon tax sadly sadly as well we can't get an answer out of the Ontario Liberal leader as to whether or not she supports the increase to the federal carbon tax in 13 days time by a whopping 23% or hold on maybe I can answer the question as to why Bonnie Cromby the queen of the carbon tax is still supporting a federal carbon tax every member of her climate change panel is on the record supporting the federal carbon tax every member including the chair the member from beaches who's heckling me right now when she was a member of Toronto council she pushed city council to ask federal liberals to hike the carbon tax every year every year I know I'm running out of time here Mr. Speaker but wait for my supplementary thank you thank you to the minister for his response it is unfair that the federal government is ignoring the overwhelming majority of Ontarians who heat with natural gas or propane and leaving them literally out in the cold this winter as families across Ontario continue to struggle with the rising cost of living our government continues to do everything we can to make life more affordable but speaker the queen of the carbon tax Bonnie Cromby and the independent liberals seem to care only about the harmful impacts the carbon tax on the lives of our constituent speaker we need members on the opposite to work with us in fact speaker the member from canada carlton is the caucus liaison to the liberal party of Canada and the federal liberal caucus but she refuses to call her federal liberal caucus to halt the carbon tax speaker thankfully our government will continue to act to keep costs down for families in Ontario can the minister please share with this house what we are doing Mr. Speaker it's clear we would scrap the carbon tax and we fought it all the way to the supreme court of Canada what we're really unclear on is where the queen of the carbon tax speaker Bonnie Cromby stands but it's pretty clear when you look at the people that she's appointed to her advisory panel on climate change we talked about the member from beaches how about Kathleen wins failed environment minister Chris Ballard he helped design the liberals multi-billion dollar cap and trade program that drove up the cost of groceries and drove up the cost of gasoline she was excited to be one of the first supporters of the liberals disastrous cap and trade program before being voted out by rural voters former McGinty agriculture minister Carol Mitchell wanted to impose a carbon tax on farmers and she was the agriculture minister Mr. Speaker not only back the liberals cap and trade carbon tax he pushed to expand it to every province in Canada and Catherine Bacos is on the record saying she believes that you have to tax people as part of a climate change plan Doug Ford and the PC government does not believe that Mr. Speaker the premier promised the people of Ontario that they would never need to use their credit card to access healthcare in Ontario yet Eileen Murphy was charged $110 to get a routine PAP test done by an apple tree clinic in Ottawa then the clinic told Eileen that if she wanted the test results she would have to pay another $110 why is the premier allowing health practitioners in Ontario to hold people's test results hostage for money Mr. Speaker as I've said many times if individuals believe that they have been inappropriately charged for an OHIP covered service they should be accessing ProtectPublicHealthCare.ca we have a process within the minister to ensure that OHIP covered services are insured and the patients cannot be charged for that and again I will remind the member opposite there is a Canada Health Act issue that needs to be resolved with the federal government and we are in conversations with them to ensure that that practice does not and cannot continue supplementary question well Eileen is far from the only Ottawa resident being gouged on Mr. Neverpay with your credit cards watch speaker patients desperate for primary care are being told to go to the south keys health centre for $400 a year plus $75 for every half hour visit revive in Canada is promising primary care for a mere $600 a year in enrollment fees how can the premier justify this exploitation when we have the solutions we need to provide primary care for everyone within the public health care system thank you speaker well I'm glad we understand that OHIP funded services should be covered and need to be covered we have a process called protective protect public health dot ca where people can go on and ensure that if they believe they have been unfairly charged for an OHIP covered service they get that work done but I'm also going to ask the member opposite as we expand primary care multidisciplinary teams is the member opposite going to support we have a number of Ottawa specific organizations that have received primary care expansion announcements in the Ottawa nurse practitioner led clinic where people can access and are going to have further expansion in Cornwall in Kingston in Kirk we have a number of these primary care expansion multidisciplinary teams that will allow people to be connected with primary care multidisciplinary teams which is what patients and clinicians want thank you speaker thank you the next question the member for Kitchener Center thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the premier recently a large group of seniors came to my office they're from my riding and they were upset and worried their rents keep going up while the living conditions in their building keep getting worse their corporate land their corporate landlard continues to put off regular maintenance until major repairs are unavoidable allowing them to apply for above guideline increases every single time these tenants were one increase away from losing their homes Mr. Speaker the number of LTB applications for above guideline increases went at 50% between 2020 and 2021 alone my bill the keeping people housed act we created a task force to investigate this predatory practice will the premier vote yes to stopping these bad actors who are costing seniors their homes and to respond the attorney general Speaker and I appreciate the opportunity to speak to the Aggies the above guideline increases there have been a number of applications there is a process for that the landlord tenant tribunal as an independent tribunal processes those we've doubled the number of full-time adjudicators so that people can have their hearings if they have issues with their residents if they have maintenance issues that sort of thing there is a process there's the rental housing enforcement unit there are avenues where they can have some of their issues address Mr. Speaker and I'll have more to say in the supplementary supplementary question well frankly it's not working LTB wait times are at all time highs because they get what they want but Mr. Speaker we can't kick you further down the road last year our province saw an unprecedented exodus of young people people between the ages of 25 and 35 50,000 people left the province last year this is our skilled labour our children, our siblings, our friends are leaving the province in search of something better but the harm isn't just to communities and families the harm is to our economy we are hemorrhaging skilled labour as quickly as we are hemorrhaging this government's failure to protect renters is hurting every single one of us again Mr. Speaker will the premier say yes to keeping people housed and no to tenants being gouged by supporting my bill the Attorney General thank you Mr. Speaker and we are working very hard so that we are actually getting the numbers down at the Landlord tenant board and in fact complaints are down over 30% because we're working through the backlog that was created through COVID partly due to the fact that we stopped any evictions during that period we were keeping people housed and safe during that entire time Mr. Speaker now what is causing grief for tenants is the cost of everything and the cost of everything is tied to the carbon tax Mr. Speaker 13 days is going up 13 days going up 23% Mr. Speaker if they're worried about people being housed and fed they need to look at the cost and the things that go into those costs Mr. Speaker the next question the next question the member for Peterborough thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of finance the carbon tax is making life more difficult for Ontarians the bank of Canada's governor has said that the impact of the carbon tax is actually four times greater than his previous estimates people in my riding at Peterborough tell me that this regressive tax is causing unnecessary harm to their household budgets it's raising the price of everything from filling up their cars to heating their homes the people of Ontario have had enough of this carbon tax our government must continue to stand with them and call on the federal liberals to eliminate the tax Mr. Speaker can the minister please speak to the damage this carbon tax has and why the federal government must end this regressive measure the minister of finance thank you Mr. Speaker thank you to the member for that question Mr. Speaker now is not the time for a punitive costly tax that is making life more unaffordable for the people here and across the country we saw provincial liberal members refuse to support a motion to eliminate the carbon tax and make goods more affordable across the province we heard the liberal member for Canada Carlton say this majority of Ontario households are better off with the carbon price in spite of all the evidence shown to the contrary in fact the queen of the carbon tax Bonnie Cromby was just interviewed again on CTV eight times she couldn't deny the federal carbon tax she couldn't deny whether she would support it or not and she doubled down again in her press conference propping up the federal liberal government Mr. Speaker the queen of the carbon tax has come for all parties to join us and agree that this federal carbon tax needs to be eliminated a supplementary question thank you Speaker and thank you to the minister for that answer the carbon tax is hurting the economy and driving up prices in Ontario and across the entire country not only is it hiking our energy and gas bills but also the cost of food housing and more and Speaker in my riding in absolutely they haven't had a grocery store for almost two years because it burnt they have to travel 40 kilometres just to get groceries that's not optional the carbon tax makes life harder for them unlike the NDP and the independent liberals our government will continue to stand up for Ontarians and ensure they can keep more money in their pockets where it belongs Speaker the federal government needs to step up and do the right thing it's time to eliminate the carbon tax Speaker can the minister of finance please explain why our government what our government is doing to keep costs low for the people of Ontario Mr. Finance thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you again to the hardworking member for that question we know that now is not the time to sit back and wait and that's why our government has taken real action for the millions of Ontario drivers we've extended the gas tax cut to June 2024 in fact Mr. Speaker since we have put the gas tax cut in place we have saved Ontario taxpayers $2.1 billion Mr. Speaker that's the largest tax cut Ontarians have seen this century let that sink in the largest tax cut this century in Ontario so while the opposition are there they can continue to vote against making life affordable our government will not stop the work to put more money back into the hardworking people of this problem thank you very much next question the member for Sudbury thank you very much Speaker questions to the premier last week the premier said that the LCBO would distribute alcohol but it's the more than 7000 beer store workers that distribute beer in the province these workers are in the middle of deciding whether or not to accept the latest collective agreement and they're voting with the understanding from the concerned government that beer will continue to be distributed by UFCW members before these before they vote these workers should know if there's something the premier isn't saying my question Speaker will the premier commit today to include these workers in a future discussion alcohol, distribution and sales in the province and to respond once again the minister of finance well thank you through you Mr. Speaker to the member opposite for the question you know Mr. Speaker it's important to note that you know this alcohol framework's been in place for 97 years almost 100 years and it is this government that's moving forward to modernize alcohol in this province to provide more convenience and choice and competition 97 years we're taking action and of course that means that the hardworking people at the beer store, the hardworking people at the LCBO people right across this province the workers who produce the beer the people who distribute the beer the people who retail the beer are going to have a role in the modernization of the alcohol system in Ontario because we're going to get it done but let me also remind the member opposite it was this government that froze the beer tax again for the fifth year next year in a row the spots and may I remind the member opposite it was the federal government that increased the beer tax again this year supplementary the member for Waterloo very much in the words of Opsu president J.P. Hornick and I quote LCBO workers are organized like never before and they're ready to fight for the future of the LCBO on March 12th the workers delivered petitions signed by nearly 7000 LCBO employees demanding and I quote a stop to the sell off of the LCBO by the conservative government and to protect good jobs across the province Colleen McLeod also of Opsu says and I quote we're proud that LCBO workers deliver revenues and contribute $2.5 billion every year into the public services we all rely on we're not going to stand by with the conservative government puts that money into the pockets of big box grocery store CEOs we're going to fight him every step of the way on quote and my question now to the finance minister will he affirm here today in this house that the alcohol that the LCBO sells will continue to be sold by Ontario public sector workers Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you again to the member opposite to Mr. Speaker it's this government that is moving forward along with the hard working people at the LCBO the hard working workers at the beer store to provide the convenience and choice for enterans right across this province Mr. Speaker on December 14th the premier and I made a big announcement on behalf of all enterans that we were going to open up beer and wine and ready to drink distribution to convenience stores right across this province the hard working convenience store operators have been asking for decades for this opportunity so that people can have more convenience that people could have more choice that we can introduce some competition Mr. Speaker to really does the member opposite really want to live in 1929 or does she want to live in 2024 and modernize the alcohol system the next question the member for Sault Ste. Marie Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of northern development and indigenous affairs it's no secret Mr. Speaker the carbon tax is making everything more expensive for everyone especially for the people who live in the communities throughout northern Ontario these communities are already feeling the pressure at the gas pumps where fuel costs are significantly higher in comparison than they are anywhere else in the entire province any independent liberals they continue to support the carbon tax they continue to support carbon tax hikes Mr. Speaker they actually agree with the federal liberals plan to increase the carbon tax on gasoline seven more times before 2030 people of the north deserve better Mr. Speaker can the minister please explain how the carbon tax negatively impacts individuals and families in northern Ontario all of indigenous communities the minister of northern development minister of indigenous affairs Mr. Speaker it is why I put stickers on those gas pumps a couple of years ago to remind folks where this was headed but I want to thank the member for Sault Ste. Marie and his advocacy in his community he's an outstanding MPP Mr. Speaker what he heard and what I've heard during constituency last week was not just the cost of everything working families but integrated supply chains like steel Mr. Speaker now thank goodness we're coming along with electric art technology to save on some of those costs Mr. Speaker but in production to manufacturing you've got significant rises in costs and the integrated supply chain in forestry Mr. Speaker we have woodland operators logging trucks, pulp mills cutting board feet at increased costs which drives up the cost of housing in food all this talk about baloney Mr. Speaker got me to think about how much response the farmer to the abattoir Mr. Speaker to the counter for that cost of baloney it's all gone up for this tax scrapped the tax it's a bunch of baloney Mr. Speaker supplementary question Thanks again Mr. Speaker and again to the minister I want to thank him for the response and for his advocacy in the area you know Mr. Speaker it is absolutely continue to force this terrible tax on northern communities that are already paying more for fuel it's even more shocking that the members opposite who represent these northern communities continue to support the carbon tax Mr. Speaker northern Ontario faces unique barriers when it comes to fuel costs and these have to be considered before we go imposing these further taxes on them clearly the federal liberals don't care about the adverse effects of carbon tax on northern communities they clearly don't care about the northern communities at all Mr. Speaker I'm wondering if the speaker could please just elaborate a little bit more for us on how the carbon tax is negatively impacting not only the residents and all of the communities but the businesses as well throughout the region in northern Ontario Mr. Northern Development Minister of Indigenous Affairs the current members of the federal liberal party it's its previous ones the member from Mark Stovill and I saw witness to that in the House of Commons oh that's right it's the queen of the carbon tax who was in the House of Commons with us then who now leads the liberal affiliates across the way Mr. Speaker this is no laughing matter the Dryden Eagles in the Fort Francis muskies live 200 kilometres away from each other think how much that costs Mr. Speaker when they go to have a sports tournament think of Satchigo First Nation today Mr. Speaker where milk is $9 a jug a box of Pampers is $30 for half a package Mr. Speaker you know what's driving up the cost of bread that has now eclipsed $6 in those isolated northern communities the carbon tax $25 for 10 kilograms Mr. Speaker in those isolated communities this is serious we appreciate the support of the NDP this tax needs to be scrapped and the Liberals need to get on board with that thank you the next question the member for Toronto thank you Speaker now to St died roughly a year ago she was a constituent of mine whose life was cut short by a lack of timely medical care Mr. St was a migrant working in Ontario he did not qualify for medical care even though she was employed and paying taxes she was struck down by an operable disease lost a leg and then had a heart attack and stroke she died early why are she and others even when they pay taxes still left without medical care thank you Speaker as the member opposite knows there are a number of programs available for whether they are refugees or individuals we have programs in fact our agricultural temporary forum workers is one such example where we ensure that OHIP coverage is available for those individuals and of course our community health centres are another example of where we provide primary care access through multidisciplinary teams specifically related for some populations including of course individuals who are providing permanent residency or here for other reasons but this speaks to the expansion of primary care and why it is so critical in our province thank you Speaker thank you very much that concludes our question period for this morning