 It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. My first question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care. So perhaps somebody on the government side will be able to respond. The Long-Term Care Commission report, as we all know, has been public for some time. The report has some pretty interesting points in it. One of which is, and I quote, 26 residents died due to dehydration prior to the arrival of the Canadian Armed Forces team. They died when all they needed was water and a wipe down. Now that's from the submission that the Canadian Armed Forces report made to the commission. The question that I have for the Minister of Long-Term Care is the same one I asked for over a week now and still have not had an answer to. And the question is, when did the Minister of Long-Term Care learn that seniors in our Long-Term Care system were dying from neglect and dehydration? To respond, the Government House Leader. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Obviously once we've heard of this, the ministry reached out to the Commission at the same time the Chief Coroner has been engaged and we've asked for full documents with respect to all the deaths in Long-Term Care, Mr. Speaker, and of course we will be acting on the recommendations of the Chief Coroner. Supplementary. Well, Speaker, the Globe and Mail has a story today that says pretty clearly that those 26 deaths that occurred in Long-Term Care Center in Downsview, called Downsview Long-Term Care Center. But those deaths also occurred in other homes. In fact, the CAF says this in their report, COVID fatalities pale in comparison to deaths from other causes like dehydration, neglect, starvation. Kathy Parks, who lost her father in Orchard Villa to COVID-19, says this and I quote, If I had my father living at home with me and I didn't feed him and I didn't give him water and I didn't give him medication or send him to the hospital, I would be criminally charged. So my question to the Minister of Long-Term Care is when did she find out, when did she know that seniors in Long-Term Care in our province of Ontario were dying of neglect and dehydration? Thank you, Speaker. Again, as I just said, Mr. Speaker, once the final report was issued by the Commission, of course, the Ministry did reach out to the Commission at the same time. The Chief Coroner has been engaged to look at all deaths in Long-Term Care, as I'm sure all members would expect. Once that documentation has been received and thoroughly reviewed by both the Coroner and by the Ministry, we'll be acting on recommendations that we see. Thank you. And the final supplementary. Well, Speaker, the Minister's Notebook was obtained by the Commission. And one of the notes that was found therein was written by the Minister on April 17, 2020. And she wrote, and I quote, military plan needed. Get them in within 24 to 48 hours. So that was on April 17. It took 12 whole days for the Canadian Armed Forces to arrive at Hawthorne Place. And in fact, it wasn't until early June that they showed up at Orchard Villa. So my question is, when did the Minister of Long-Term Care learn that Ontario seniors living in long-term care were dying of neglect and dehydration? Thank you, Speaker. And yes, obviously we're very grateful for the work that the Canadian Armed Forces did in assisting us. It's one of the whole series of measures that the government took during the first wave, Mr. Speaker. As you know, it was a very challenging time. We are, of course, engaged with the Chief Coroner. As members would expect, all deaths in long-term care homes will be reviewed by the Chief Coroner. Once we seek that additional documentation, Mr. Speaker, we will be taking action. Thank you. The next question, later the opposition. Thank you so much, Speaker. My next question is for the Minister of Health. Speaker, this morning the Financial Accountability Office issued a report that talks about the surgical weight backlog that's waiting here in Ontario. In fact, the Chief Financial Officer says this. It's a 419,200 surgical backlog that we have right now in this province, as well as 2.5 million people waiting for diagnostic procedures as of this September alone. Speaker, this is pretty frightening. This is a matter of life and death. These are people who are waiting in pain, anxiety, worry about the procedures that have been postponed and the surgeries that have been postponed. But where is the Minister's plan to get rid of, to deal with the surgical and procedural backlogs in our province? Minister of Health, please stand. Karen, thank you to the leader of the official opposition for the question. We are aware that there are a number of surgical procedures and diagnostic procedures and surgeries that have been delayed between the first and second waves and now during this third wave. It should also be noted that since the beginning of this pandemic, there have been over 420,000 surgeries that have been performed. There is an analysis that is done on anyone with a significant problem, be it cancer care or cardiac care. If they need surgery, if it's a life and death procedure, they will get that surgery. But for other procedures that can be delayed, unfortunately they have to be. I know this isn't great news for people that have been waiting for a long time, but we simply need the space right now for COVID patients. But we do have a plan. We had a plan since the beginning of this pandemic, which I'd be pleased to outline in a supplemental speaker. Thank you. The supplementary question. Well, Speaker, 419,200 surgeries is a heck of a lot of surgeries. 2.5 million diagnostic procedures, that's a heck of a lot of procedures. The FAO predicts that it's going to take at least three years, at least three years to clear these backlogs. The surgery backlog particularly in British Columbia, 95% of the backlogged surgeries were cleared as of just this past March 2021. The FAO found, unfortunately, that instead of spending the money necessary with a real plan to reduce the backlog, this government has been cutting corners and has barely funded half of the necessary resources, the necessary money to clear the backlog. So my question is to the minister, why is she failing to unveil a real plan to clear the backlogs and refusing to invest the necessary money? Minister of Health. Well, in fact, our government does have a plan and we have committed the resources. The plan has already been indicated to you as the official opposition and to the people of Ontario. Last fall we spent an extra $200 million in order to reduce the surgical backlogs. This was increased with our budget this year. Part of our $1.8 billion investment was another $300 million to reduce the backlogs. That's $500 million to engage in surgeries during evenings and on weekends to make sure that we can increase the volume of surgeries we're able to do. We've also set out a surgical wait list across a number of hospitals on a regional basis so that we can use every single operating room and that there is a procedure whereby some surgeries can be transferred from one hospital to another if they have the space. We also instituted a surgical smoothing program. Response. All of these programs are working. We have had to postpone them, but the good news is that our numbers in ICU are at 828 today. That's not a great number by normal standards, but it is going down and as it goes down. Thank you. The final supplementary. Well, Speaker, the Independent Financial Accountability Office has shown in their report this morning that this government is failing to invest the necessary funds by almost double. So if they doubled what they've invested, maybe we get some of those surgeries cleared quicker. But you know what that means? Lives will remain on the line here. In fact, folks might remember a woman who was waiting for cancer surgery and she said this to CTV News or rather to City News recently. How she feels with her surgery being delayed. It's frustrating. It's terrifying. The government has known for months this was happening. They tail the table, the budget that shorted the resources necessary to clear the backlogs in surgical procedures and diagnostic procedures. When will the government make the commitment to double the amount that they've invested and ensure that there is a public plan that shows how they're going to get this problem dealt with? Minister of Health. Well, in fact, last year, 88% of our hospitals achieved their surgical targets using the plan that we've already set out, which we will get back to as soon as we're able. But we have put $500 million into just expanding the hours for these surgeries to be done. We've also invested the money to create over 3,400 new beds in hospitals, 285 more intensive care beds. We've also invested more into home and community care, several hundred million dollars so that those people who don't need to be in hospital can then go home and have the procedures and the help that they need, whether it's nursing services or personal support workers. So in addition to the $500 million that I've already discussed, we've put other hundreds of millions of dollars over $5 billion into our healthcare system since the beginning. And while it is very unfortunate, I know people have been waiting for the time to have their surgeries done. This is something we are looking at on a daily basis because we are also anxious to make sure that we can get back to reducing that backlog and getting people back to their normal lives and work. Thank you. Next question, the member for Grampton East. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Speaker, when everyone should be doing everything they can to get vaccines to COVID-19 hotspots and to fight vaccine hesitancy, the conservative governments' confusing and mixed messages aren't helping anyone. On Thursday, the Conservative Associate Minister for Small Businesses confused Ontarians by suggesting that the Pfizer vaccine, the same vaccine that Ontario has received over 4.5 million doses of, is not as effective as it could be. Despite the fact that the Conservative Associate Minister represents Grampton, a city that is one of the worst hit by the COVID-19 crisis in this entire country, and where folks know they're not receiving as many vaccines as they need to protect lives. Why is the Conservative Associate Minister going out of his way to confuse people about the effectiveness of this vaccine when communities like Grampton need it? I don't think the minister is doing anything of the sort, Mr Speaker. What the minister is highlighting, and the minister from Grampton is highlighting the fact that we remain very troubled by the inexcusable reluctance of the federal government to act on our borders, Mr Speaker. We have highlighted a number of issues with borders. We have seen the variants of concern, which continue to come through our borders. Even this past weekend, a significant more, Mr Speaker. This is very troubling, and we need the federal government to live up to its responsibility to secure our international borders so that as we continue to hit hotspots like Grampton, which has seen a significant increase in the amount of vaccinations that it has been getting, Mr Speaker, so that we can continue this good work, we need the federal government to simply step up and do what we have asked it to do. Do what everybody is asking it to do. Close that border so that we can get these variants of concern under control, and I would ask the member opposite to join with us in this, Mr Speaker. This is certainly not a partisan issue. We should all be concerned with what we're seeing out our international borders, and I hope that he'll assist us. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Back to the Premier. On terms of smart, they listen to the science. They respect the expert doctors who have told them to take any vaccine available to them. And they know that after this Premier and this Minister for Small Businesses failed to bring in enough paid sick days, failed to protect lives and protect small businesses, that the number one thing that they can do for themselves and their families to stay safe is to get vaccinated. But instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated, the Associate Minister is confusing people. The Pfizer vaccine isn't the failure. The failure is that the Associate Minister and the Conservative Government did not get vaccines into hotspot communities like mine in Brampton. Why is the Minister confusing people at this critical time when he could be protecting lives in Brampton by encouraging folks to get vaccinated and by ensuring that we're getting as many vaccines as possible at this critical time in Brampton? Mr Speaker, I think if there was any failure, it continues to be a failure of the federal government early on to provide us with vaccines that were needed so that we could do more in hotspots, Mr Speaker. But despite that, Mr Speaker, despite the failing of the federal government to give us the appropriate vaccines in February, March and April, Mr Speaker, we have been able to redirect significant vaccinations into hotspots across this province. We have vaccinated over 6 million people in the province of Ontario. If there is another failing, it's another failing of the federal government which allowed these variants of concerns to get into our borders in the first place. We have been calling on the federal government for months to close down the borders in advance of the UK variant making its way into the province of Ontario, Mr Speaker. So I would ask the Honourable Gentleman, if he wants to do the right thing for the people of Brampton, if he wants to help us out in Peel, he can join with us in calling on the federal government to do the right thing to close our international borders so that we can get control of this situation because it's not just vaccines, Mr Speaker, it's about closing access to these variants of concerns. The next question, the Member for Willow-Dale. Thank you very much, Speaker, and I want to pick up where the House Leader just left off because it's very clear that stricter border measures help stop the spread of COVID-19 before it even gets here. And we also know that every single case of COVID, of the variants, have started outside of this province. And as the Solicitor General has said previously, there are yet no COVID variants that have originated from Ontario. Well, Speaker, as we begin yet another week with flights coming into Ontario's airports with potentially more variants, my question to the Solicitor General. Can the Solicitor General remind this legislature why stronger measures at our borders are essential to help stop the spread of COVID-19? To reply to the Solicitor General. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you for the Member for Willow-Dale for raising this because it is critically important that we understand where the variants are coming from and how they get into Ontario. You know, in the last two weeks alone, we've had 43 domestic flights that haven't had at least one confirmed COVID case on them. And you know how we found that out? Not because the federal government is testing at our airports, but in fact because those individuals, rightfully, went, booked an appointment, got the test, the test came back positive. But Speaker, how many people did they interact with before they got that positive result back? We need to do a better job and we can do that with our federal partners if they would step up and actually test domestic travellers as they come into Ontario. Thank you. Supplementary question. Well, thank you, Speaker. And you know, this is a frustrating issue for me and my constituents. You know, Ontarians continue to make sacrifices to help defeat COVID-19 and try and return life back to normal. I mean, in Mother's Day yesterday, Willow-Dale has made incredible sacrifices and we're unable to celebrate with their families. And the variants are the biggest reason why we can't get back to normal life. And the Solicitor General and so many members of our caucus have been fiercely advocating for these stronger measures at our borders, which we know is going to help stop the spread of these variants in Ontario. So back to the Solicitor General, Speaker. Can she update this House on what the federal government's response to our many letters has been so far? Isn't this in general? Thank you, Speaker. And yes, unfortunately, I can share with what the federal government responded with. Regrettably, Minister Le Bonk refused to address any of the specific concerns that were raised in our letters. First, we called on abandon all non-essential travel, mandatory PCR testing for inter-provincial travellers, an end to the loophole at our land borders, and for proper enforcement of hotel quarantine. You know, Speaker, we continue to be very clear, crystal clear to the federal government. We're imploring them to take stricter measures at the border. I encourage the Prime Minister to actually read the letters that we've sent and respond with the actions or what they intend to do about it. Thank you. Thank you. The next question, the Member for Scarborough, Southwest. Thank you, Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government promised Ontarians the best sick day plan in North America. But what they have given us isn't what even people ask for, let alone isn't anywhere near what the best programme in Canada would look like. Mr. Speaker, the Yukon gives everyone 10 days of paid leave, no questions asked. Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia all have paid time off for vaccine appointments. DEI and Quebec have permanent paid sick leave programmes, while ours expire in September. Meaning the Conservatives will have taken away five paid sick days from Ontarians by the time they're turned up, let alone providing the best sick leave. My question is, Mr. Speaker, how does this government ever expect to get this crisis in highly impacted places like Scarborough under control with the half-rate bargain sick leave programme? Thank you, Speaker. To reply, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development. Well, thank you very much, and I thank the Member Opposite for that question. But furthermore, Mr. Speaker, I thank the Member Opposite and all members in this legislature for supporting our government's solution to this. To bring forward a comprehensive plan of 23 paid sick days in the province of Ontario, we committed to doubling the federal programme from $500 a week to $1,000 a week and bringing in three paid sick days under the Employment Standards Act. Mr. Speaker, we are the first province in the country to bring in paid sick days during COVID-19. We will continue to stand with workers every single day and all the people of this province until we defeat COVID-19. Supplementary question. Well, this government tries to deflect and destruct the public and end-users attack ads, really, and then blame the federal government or use the federal government for their excuses. The feds actually wrote back and they asked the province what they actually wanted to do, and they heard nothing from this government. So my question is again, Mr. Speaker, when is this government going to stop with the desperate deflection and start focusing on measures that would actually work, something that experts have been calling for, like paid sick days plan, or an actual support programme for businesses and workers that actually help these people instead of shutting down businesses and that this government is dropping the ball on the vulnerable people of this province and our local businesses across this province. When will this government step up and act? Thank you, Speaker. Mr. Labour. Well, Mr. Speaker, we are the very first province in Canada to bring forward, sickly during COVID-19, a comprehensive package of 23 paid sick days to help workers and their families get through this pandemic. Mr. Speaker, all members, including the member opposite, supported our legislation. I'm proud to say that we passed this bill in record time, about three hours, Mr. Speaker. So I thank the members of the NDP and the independent Liberals for supporting this legislation. But Mr. Speaker, the federal government has said to us, how can we help? We've got two requests. One, double the four weeks of paid sick leave from $500 a week to $1,000 a week. And secondly, Mr. Speaker, secure our borders, secure our airports. Stop the variants of concerns from entering Ontario. If the federal government wants to be a partner, do those two things. Response. Thank you. The next question, the member for Ottawa South. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This morning's story in the Globe and Mail about deaths from dehydration in Ontario's long-term care homes is pretty deeply disturbing to all of us. And it's been almost 10 days since the Commission released its report. And the government has failed to commit firmly to any of the recommendations in it. I think it's clear to all of us that immediate and sustained action needs to happen. So my question is simple. Through you, Speaker, will the Premier commit to implementing the 85th recommendation of the Long-term Care Commission's final report, requiring the government to table the report in the legislature, outlining the progress they've made to implement the remaining recommendations in the report, one year from now? And again, in three years from now. A simple answer, yes or no. To reply, Government Hoseley. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the question. Obviously, we take the report very seriously. That's why I would expect the Honourable Member would expect us to take a look at all of the recommendations, Mr. Speaker. And give them the attention that they deserve. I think what would have been helpful, Mr. Speaker, if had over the 15 years of the previous Liberal government, that's four separate Liberal administrations, had they paid attention to long-term care, had they built long-term care, had they rebuilt some of those long-term care homes that were so desperately in need of upgrading, had they worked on a staffing strategy, Mr. Speaker, had the Liberals done that for the 15 years and four administrations that preceded ours, we would not have been in the unfortunate position of having to play defense for a full year. But, Mr. Speaker, right now we're on the offense in the province of Ontario. Over 6 million vaccinations into people's arms. We're attacking COVID directly in the hotspots. We're going to essential workplaces, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Labor has brought in a sick day regime. Mr. Speaker, we need the federal government to do its part, secure our borders, and we can put this behind us once and for all. Mr. Speaker, it's the easiest recommendation in the report for the government to enact right now. I don't know why we couldn't get a yes or a no. And last week, when talking about long-term care, the Premier said, and I quote, it was a tragedy, but we're going to fix it. This will never happen again, never happen again. However, one year ago, the Premier also said an investigation had been launched into the report of the Canadian military. And we found out last week, that investigation was never launched. Nothing was ever turned over to police. And then we read in the Globe this morning. And a spokesperson for the Ministry of Long-Term Care says, that could be criminal, year later. Currently, there's no legislative requirement for this government to enact recommendation 85. This afternoon, I'll be putting forward legislation that will acquire the government to enact recommendation 85. Simple question, will the government support that legislation? Yes or no? Another simple question. Government House Leader. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As I said, we will do what's right by long-term care in this province, Mr. Speaker, unlike the previous Liberal government, which he was a member of, Mr. Speaker. Now, there were four previous Liberal administrations in advance of ours, Mr. Speaker, over 15 years. And the record of that previous Liberal government put us on the defense for much of the first part for the first year of this pandemic, whether it was ICU capacity, which they did nothing about, whether it was a staffing strategy for our long-term care homes, whether it was rebuilding long-term care homes that were in desperate need of renovation and upgrading, whether it was adding more long-term care beds, Mr. Speaker. On every single account, the previous four Liberal governments over 15 years failed the people of the province of Ontario. We moved quickly, Mr. Speaker, before the pandemic, whether it was a staffing strategy, whether it was to build thousands of additional long-term care beds, whether it was increasing ICU capacity, increasing testing from 5,000 to 75,000 a day. We are on the offense to put this behind us once and for all, Mr. Speaker. We need the help of the federal government on our borders, but Canadians and Ontarians are on the brink. Thank you. The next question, the Member for Willardale. Thank you, Speaker. From the beginning of this pandemic, our government has always put the health and safety of Ontarians as our number one priority, and that's what we continue to do. And, Speaker, the people of this province continue to do their part. Yet, they are unnecessarily put at higher risk because of the lack of border control, Speaker, the higher risk coming into our country, into our province from these dangerous variants from travelers, both internationally and domestically. Speaker, we have all heard the success around other places in the world, like New Zealand, and how they've managed to fare COVID-19 by restricting travel. My question is to the Solicitor General. It was very disappointing to hear that our letters had little response or a good response from the federal government. So my question is, what other steps is our government taking to urge Ottawa to finally get serious about protecting our borders? Mr. Solicitor General. Thank you, and thank you again from the Member for Willardale. I know that this is an important issue for your constituents in your community, but it is for all of Ontario. Since December, Premier Ford has been urging the Prime Minister to take stronger actions at our border. That's why Ontario has the first jurisdiction to actually implement on arrival COVID testing for international travelers, leading the federal government to take the action on this front. We also took the unprecedented step of closing the Manitoba and Quebec borders, land and water, with the provinces. As the Member will know, we have sent the separate letters to Minister Blair and the federal government, asking them to take action to protect Ontario citizens. Unfortunately, the response we received from the federal government has said they still refuse and will be continuing to ignore taking action to limit international travel. Completely unacceptable, Speaker. Well, thank you, Speaker, and it's truly frustrating to hear the federal government's lack of action to protect our border speaker. And my constituents are extremely frustrated also to paraphrase one of my constituents from the other day. These variants are not swimming into Ontario. Speaker, we know these variants of concerns are now the dominant form of the virus in our country. And when it comes to international travel, border protection is a federal duty, and they have a responsibility to protect Willow-Dailers and all Ontarians. Speaker, back to the Minister. Can she please explain why strict measures at our borders are essential to protect Ontarians from these dangerous variants of concern? Listen, Mr. General. Thank you, Speaker. You know, we've seen how limiting international travel has been used effectively to spread the COVID-19 variant. We all know of the success of the maritime bubble. In limiting travel and by doing so limiting COVID cases, no one argues. We all understand. But let's take a look here in Canada. In Canada, the federal government allows international travel in four provinces, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and BC. We all know there are a lot of factors at play with COVID spread, but it is a factor in provinces that have the hardest battle with COVID since this began that the same provinces have the international travel. It's not a coincidence. Even the restrictions on those travelling from hotspots like India mean it only takes two mouse clicks for someone to route a flight through another country to arrive at Toronto Pearson. The federal government needs to take this issue seriously to protect us from the variants. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is for Niagara Falls. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Nowhere was COVID had been more deadly than our long-term care homes. We saw it clearly in Niagara. Despite the Premier's promise to build an iron ring around long-term care in the first wave of COVID, more seniors died in the second wave than the first. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, loved members of our community. At Oakwood Park Lodge in Niagara Falls, nearly 100% of the staff and residents were infected. 40 people died. The long-term commission confirmed what we all knew. This government failed long-term care residents. In Niagara, people died as the government refused to send in the military or the Red Cross helped the staff, which I asked for. The report says it clearly. The Premier had no plan to protect these seniors or staff. Speaker, will the Premier admit he failed long-term care residents and staff and admit that Niagara was left without proper government support and immediately implement the commission's recommendation? Government House Leader? As I said on a number of occasions, we'll certainly take your review of all of the very important recommendations that came through the commission report. I think honourable members on both sides of the House would expect nothing less. As I said on a number of occasions, we certainly were faced with some challenging situations when we inherited government and federal administrations, which had not done the work needed to invest in our long-term care homes, whether it was a staffing strategy. We know staff was leaving, but we didn't know why they were leaving. Was it pay? Was it other issues? Our homes were in disrepair. They had made no progress on helping on that file. There was multi-year wait lists in many homes because the Liberals simply did not invest in new homes. We took action right away in advance. More had to be done in long-term care. That's why we made investments almost immediately to upgrade our long-term care homes to build thousands of new homes. We are making progress on the file, and I think members would expect nothing less. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We saw how much more deadly the second wave of COVID was in Niagara, despite this government having time to repair their promise to protect seniors and staff in long-term care facilities. Long-term care commission reports showed us that 26 seniors died of neglect, desegregating and eating water, and a white down. Think of that. They died because they couldn't get water. Water. The Premier promised an investigation into these deaths. Now he says he won't launch one. Like the iron ring he promised, his investigation was a myth. He wouldn't commit to implement the recommendations in the report either. Enough of blaming him that thousands of seniors have died under this government's watch. This Premier and his government failed the residents of Ontario. Speaker, will the Premier fully and immediately implement all of the recommendations in the commissioner's report? Will he ensure homes are properly staffed and no other senior dies in the richest province in Canada because he couldn't get water? Mr Speaker, I think the Honourable Member will agree that significant progress has been made and he's absolutely correct that this province was left in a very challenging situation after four previous Liberal administrations and the lack of investment that we saw in them, Mr Speaker. That is why this government has committed to four hours of care. It's a multi-billion-dollar investment, Mr Speaker. I suspect individuals don't care how much it costs. They just want to ensure that it gets done. That's why in addition to that we're going to be hiring 27,000 additional PSWs. We heard from the PSWs themselves in advance of the last election that they wanted an organisation to cover and to allow them to advocate for themselves. That is before the House right now, Mr Speaker. We are building thousands of new homes across the province. We've increased infection prevention and control measures. The new Ontario health teams is another significant milestone and breakthrough in how we can ensure that our homes stay safe. Work had to have been done over the last 15 years of the previous four Liberal administrations but we're getting it done. Next question, Member for Don Valley West. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. My question is for the Premier. One of the undeniable impacts of the COVID pandemic is that women have been disproportionately affected. Everyone has experienced major isolating changes in their lives but women working with the elderly holding the front line in businesses deemed essential, caring for babies working at their own jobs from home and homeschooling their children have often carried a double load. So much so, Mr Speaker, that thousands of women have actually left the labour force in order to manage the demands of their families. This is a reality and the economic downturn brought on by COVID has been called the she-session by some economists. It's the reason that if we were to successfully manage our society, we need to recognize that we must foster a she-covery. The most important thing that we can do is make sure that women can re-enter the workforce when they're ready to do so and have someone to look after their children. Speaker, the federal government is offered to invest in childcare across the country to enhance and build on the services already available in provinces and territories. Will the Premier work with the federal government to ensure that every family in Ontario who needs affordable childcare for their children will find it in their own community? To reply, the Associate Minister of Children and Women's Issues. Thank you, Mr Speaker, and thank you for that question. Obviously, it's one that we hold near and dear to our heart as well. Ontario is committed to building an affordable childcare system that is flexible and responsive to the needs of families and very unique families. And I can tell you, from every round table that I've heard, I've always heard from women about the issues and barriers that childcare face, so it is very important to us. We hope that the federal government will significantly step up their funding to advance affordability while agreeing that parents need a flexible system that bonds to their preferences on how to raise their children as we know a one-size-approach does not fit all. We look forward to reviewing the details of the plan and, as we have done before, our government is again providing direct relief to families to help offset additional costs incurred as a result of the pandemic and payments to parents through the Ontario COVID child benefit being on April 26 to help working parents of students age 0 through grade 12 with direct financial support during the pandemic. Thank you. And the supplementary question. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the minister's answer. Speaker, between 2008 and 2018, our government built 200,000 childcare spaces and the number of children in licensed childcare in Ontario doubled in that period. Ontario Liberals have put forward a plan that would partner with the federal government to build on that progress and provide licensed affordable childcare across Ontario and licensed childcare can be flexible to the minister's point. It can be home-based and with the support of the federal government it can be affordable for every family. Speaker, I suspect that there's an ideological antipathy toward childcare in this government. We saw that on display during the last election when the leader demonstrated that he knew nothing about childcare. But, Speaker, the need to address this issue is more acute than it has ever been. COVID demands that we recognize the labour market participation by women will not recover without a new commitment to childcare. I ask again whether this government will put aside that ideological opposition and develop a process to work with the federal government to make sure that childcare is available to every family who wants it and needs in Ontario. And to respond, the minister of education. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Thank you to the member opposite for the question. Just building off, my colleague indeed will work with the federal government. We all aspire to make childcare accessible and affordable and flexible for working parents in the province. However, as we reflect and look back, it must be noted, Speaker, that Ontario under the former Liberal Government had the second highest and most expensive childcare system in the nation. It's not a program we seek to emulate. We have chosen to directly support parents with the childcare tax credit. We topped it up in the most recent budget by an additional 20% of one-time support given the unique challenges facing parents, especially women, given that their difficulty re-entering the labour market as a consequence of the disruption of the pandemic. We've increased support in the childcare system. There's over $2 billion being expended every single year with a plan to build 30,000 spaces within our schools last year, 16,000 schools were created within the childcare market. There's more to do. It's why in our budget we increased supports and we're going to continue in collaboration with the federal government to work with them to make childcare more accessible for interns. Next question, the member for Willowdale. Thank you, Speaker. We know that stricter border measures stop the spread of COVID-19. That's a fact and it's backed up by science and data and our respected allies around the world have implemented them with great success. So while our government continues to urgently invest real action to secure our borders, based on the Solicitor General's previous two answers, it's clearly not a priority for the Prime Minister. What's even more disappointing, what's frankly astonishing, Speaker, is to see that the Liberal Party leader Stephen Del Duca and his party are more interested in defending their federal cousins than taking time to stand up for Ontarians. So, Speaker, my question is for the Solicitor General. Can the Minister tell this House if Mr. Del Duca's claims that this government's policy on securing our borders is not xenophobic or an attack on Ontarians? Solicitor General. Thank you very much and I appreciate the interest and the back and forth because I think this is an important issue for all of us to appreciate and understand. We know from aviation statistics that the vast majority of air travellers to Ontario are in fact domestic travellers. During March of 2021, our hardest hit month so far in Ontario, more than 1,000 travellers passed through the Ottawa airport alone, which we know only accepts domestic travellers. To give you an idea of how many people that is, it would be the equivalent of the city of Brockville passing through the airport in just one month. Speaker, do you know how many of those travellers were required by the federal government to get tested? Zero. None. It's shameful that anyone let alone the leader of a party would make this about race. Perhaps it would be the case that the federal government should spend less time standing up for its federal cousins and spend some time standing up for Ontarians. And the supplementary. Well, thank you, Speaker, and I appreciate that response from the minister because I agree this has nothing to do with race and it's unfortunate to hear the Liberal members heckle during the question about this very important issue, Speaker, because I think all Ontarians are in place, so why won't Mr. Del Ducca join us in asking his federal cousins to protect the borders here in Ontario? It's a simple request. So, Speaker, back to the minister. Is there a reason to be concerned about travellers even from within our country? Mr. General. That would be an emphatic yes, Speaker. Ontarians are frustrated. They're doing their part and they're following public health advice. Meanwhile, Mr. Del Ducca's federal cousins refuse to take action after three official requests for action. Premier Ford has repeatedly asked the federal government to step up and do the right thing. We need to ensure that our borders are secure. Did you know that a population larger than the entire city of Kitchener passed through Pearson Airport in February alone, the vast majority were not even required to take a PCR test? Does Mr. Del Ducca's party think that the most travellers should take action? Will he and the members opposite join us in calling the federal government to implement PCR testing for all air travellers? Or will they continue to their spending their time standing up for their federal cousins instead of doing what's right for the people of Ontario? Thank you. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. On Friday, April 30th, the minister of colleges and universities released a report that I'm quoting here. The government's priority is to maintain a northern and bilingual midwifery program. And that got a lot of traction in the news and on social media, and many people reached out to my office to say that Laurentians University's midwifery program had been saved. However, shortly afterwards the ministry spokesperson clarified that the province was not saying it would be able to preserve Laurentians midwifery program, but that it would be making efforts. Speaker, that was a cruel joke to play in Northern Ontario. Will the Premier commit today to ensuring that a tricultural bilingual midwifery program in Northern Ontario will exist this fall? Thank you, Speaker. And Speaker, yes, we remain committed to these programs in the North. That's why, Speaker, as the Premier and minister have said, we've worked with impacted students that 10% affected by the CCAA proceeding to ensure pathways to graduation worked closely with institutions to ensure midwifery programming remains in the North, bilingual remains in the North for students to graduate and practice their practice within the North. And we'll continue to do that, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Supplementary? Thank you, Speaker. And back to the Premier. Speaker, for nearly two decades Laurentians University's physics department graduated 15 radiation therapists each and every year, they've been trained in radiation therapy for cancer patients. However, Speaker, because the Premier failed to protect Laurentian University from the CCAA process, the medical physicists have provided training in radiation therapy of lost their jobs. This means that the four-year program to train radiation therapists in Northern Ontario no longer exists. According to the CBC, the Ministry of Health has referred questions about this to the Minister of Colleges and Health. Speaker, the midwifery and radiation therapy for cancer patients are two programs essential to healthcare in Northern Ontario. Will the Premier do the right thing and commit to saving these programs in Northern Ontario? Thank you, Speaker. Our government's been clear from day one. Our universities, our colleges, our universities are autonomous institutions governed by their own board of directors. When one asked to go before judicial action, we said, we respect that. We respect the independence of that process. What we've done is we've ensured that students have a pathway to graduation, Mr. Speaker. We've ensured that we have midwifery programming in the North thanks to investments from this government. We've expanded French programming in the North thanks to investments from this government. We've seen it with Nausam, we've seen it with Hearst, but what's really deeply concerning is that this government is not only going to respect the independent proceedings and we're going to support our students in the North. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. The next question. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is, what is the responsibility of this government? What is the responsibility of this government? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Mr. Speaker, the Premier and his party have launched attacks against the federal government that are xenophobic and outrageous. They're claiming that it's the federal government failure at the border that is the cause of all of our COVID-19 problems. The Premier has said he wants to see fewer people enter Ontario, but he won't tell us who. Does he want to stop truck drivers from delivering essential goods? Does he want to stop doctors and nurses from crossing the border to work at hospitals? Does he want to stop the 30,000 international students that were accepted into our publicly funded universities, Mr. Speaker? Now, today the government claims that they're talking about restrictions on domestic travel and they've closed the border. They've closed the border. They've closed the border with Ontario and Quebec, and since they're doing such a good job at domestic travel restrictions, Mr. Speaker, perhaps the minister can tell us how many people travel from Gatineau into Ottawa this morning. I'm shocked, Speaker. I can't believe the member opposite has not been listening to the back and forth about what we have been doing and what we will continue to do. To be clear, we want to stop the variance of concern coming into Ontario. That is what is going to protect us. That is what is going to give us the time to vaccinate enough people to protect our citizens. If the member understood that the vast majority of positive cases right now are actually variants that originate from somewhere outside of Ontario, perhaps he could work with us and our federal partners to do the right thing. I close the door and I will test people and get them hotel to the land and water loopholes solved. That would be productive use of your time. The supplementary question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to be clear, the minister doesn't know how many people travel from Gatineau to Ottawa this morning despite the fact that there's an inter-prevential restriction. The province is on lockdown. Thousands of new COVID-19 cases in Ontario. Schools and outdoor recreation remain closed and a lack of centralized booking has led to a scramble to find and receive vaccinations. But instead of focusing on solving these issues, Mr. Speaker, instead of spending their time getting vaccines into arms, advertising about vaccine hesitancy, the government is focusing their attention on blaming others. They're not advertising about stopping the spread of the virus. They're not advertising to combat vaccine hesitancy. They're not advertising about the ways in which they're helping Ontarians. They're advertising and fundraising with the all too familiar refrain of blaming others. Those people from over there, Mr. Speaker, it's those people from over there. If only fewer of them were coming in, all of our problems would be solved. So Mr. Speaker, when will the government put the focus on helping Ontarians and stop trying to meet their base with Doug Wissle Polit? I'm going to ask the member to withdraw. I withdraw. To reply, this is Mr. General. So many issues. So, first of all, I am going to reinforce that the vast majority of positive cases of COVID-19 are in fact the variants of concern. Which by extension means that those variants came from other countries. Right now, that happens to be a variant that started in the UK. But we all know and are watching what's happening with our BC and Alberta counterparts where they are seeing variants coming from other countries. We need to stop that. We can do all the vaccinations that we can based on the supply. And we will continue to do that. We've expanded the pharmacy model. We've expanded the primary care model. We have 34 public health units doing excellent work across Ontario, making sure that to date, over 6 million people, that's almost half of the province, have received the vaccine. So, while that rollout will continue and we're very proud of the work that they are doing, we also need to focus on making sure that no more variants come into Ontario. Thank you. Next question. York Southwest. Good morning, Mr Speaker. Thank you. My question is to the Premier. The third wave has been devastating to York Southwest, a community of essential workers and marginalised populations. As a high risk and hotspots, we need to make a priority for vaccinations. And so far, we have few mobile pub-ups and no permanent facility or location. And now this week, our residents are forced to travel outside of the community for any hope of getting their vaccine. Our residents are looking for the government to provide the health care they need, right here, right now, in the community. Workers need adequate basic days as well as part-time off to get their vaccinations they are waiting for. When is this government going to act with urgency when it comes to stopping COVID transmission in our community? Well, thank you very much and I thank the member opposite for the opportunity to get up and talk about what we're doing for workers in this province. In fact, we were the very first province in Canada since COVID-19 hit this country to bring in a comprehensive 23 days of paid sick leave for workers, and we're very proud of the participation of the federal government's program and ours. But Mr. Speaker, I'm extremely proud of our worker income protection benefit. It does not require a sick note from doctors and it ensures that workers stay home if they're feeling unwell, if they are getting a COVID test and waiting for COVID results. If a worker has to go and get vaccinated, or if a patient has to go to the vaccination, but Mr. Speaker, we go even further. If there's workers out there being impacted by mental health issues related to COVID-19, you can stay home and be paid for that. If you're a mum or a dad that has to stay home because your child has COVID symptoms, stay home and get paid. Thank you. Again, my question is to the Premier. High risk workers need to be treated like an afterthought by this government. I have been approached by essential businesses who would like to get their essential workers vaccinated right at their workplace but cannot afford to cover the cost of arranging for that. Why is this government not making it easier for workplaces to vaccinate their employees on this spot? Why is this government not making it easier for workplaces to vaccinate employees on this spot? Why are these essential businesses help vaccinate workers and mitigate COVID transmission? Thank you. Please, Mr. Jenner. Thank you, Speaker. I'm really glad that the member opposite raised this because it's very exciting, one of the other pathways businesses that do not have the facility or the bandwidth to put on their own vaccination clinic. So in fact we have ramped up with the help of Red Cross and Menabee to actually have teams go out and go to those smaller businesses and I hope that the member opposite would share the names of those businesses with us so that we can reach out connect and make sure that that is available to them and their employees. Thank you Speaker. Thank you. The next question the member for Cambridge. Mr. Speaker my question is for the Premier. Recently the Premier stated that he believes that if the borders were safe everything would be fine right now but back in March of last year when there were less than 200 cases of COVID in Ontario the Premier encouraged families to travel for March break and stated that he wanted the borders to remain open. If it's true that border measures might have helped stop the spread of COVID it's logical that it would have only helped way back when there were only a few cases of COVID in Ontario and none of the variants had arrived. So then why did the Premier not call for these measures 14 months ago when things could have been prevented. Order. The response the Solicitor General. The member opposite raises an important piece of information and that is the more that we learn about COVID-19 how it spreads why it spreads where it's spreading from the more we can protect people and it is absolutely critical as we understand more about COVID-19 that we continue to learn that we continue to pivot and we continue to put more additional enforcement in. You know I would remind the member that it was actually Premier Ford and our government who started testing international visitors in the beginning of this year because you know we all remember that long-term care home in Barry that was devastated because one person who is carrying the variant from the UK infected and then unfortunately devastated a long-term care home. When we learn that information we have to be able to react quickly to ensure that others are protected and that's what we've done by asking for additional border restrictions and putting imposing more border restrictions on Manitoba and Quebec. Thank you. Supplementary question. The Premier had 14 months to ask the federal government to do something on border controls but the Premier blew it. He was too busy praising instead. Last August the Premier stated you wonder why I'm always up here praising him because he did an incredible job as Prime Minister. The Prime Minister responded with it is always great to be up here with friends especially you Premier Ford. Then the Premier called Liberal Finance Minister Christopher Freeland amazing. She previously called the Premier her therapist. If the Premier had such a glowing friendship with Prime Minister Trudeau and such influence over Finance Minister Freeland why didn't the Premier take the opportunity to ask for the border measures he wanted 14 months ago back when no variants had arrived in Canada and COVID cases were close to zero by comparison. In other words back when it may have made a difference. Oh Speaker. So when COVID-19 came in last year it came in from another country order right. The variants came in from another country. We look at what the Maritime Bubble did. It was a very successful model. They protected their borders. We've done that. We proactively when the federal government wasn't testing international visitors we stepped up and we did that. Now to their credit the federal government after a number of weeks did actually take over PCR testing of international visitors. All we are asking for is that they do the same for the domestic visitors because we have those essential people coming into Ontario. We have citizens returning to Ontario and all we want to do is protect them to make sure that we don't have more spread and a fourth way. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Speaker last week I wrote a letter to the Minister of Finance highlighting some concerns on the state of our auto insurance system in Ontario and in Brampton North. I wrote how in Ontario we pay some of the highest auto insurance rates in the country twice as much as our neighbours in Quebec pay on average. I also informed the Minister that my constituents of Brampton North pay the highest auto insurance premiums in the province with an average of $3,301 per year. More than twice the provincial average of $1,616. We also know there are being fewer drivers and fewer accidents on the road during this pandemic. Insurance companies have raked in record profits but the drivers of Ontario have not seen any meaningful rebates. As the official opposition has recommended will this government implement a 50% decrease on auto insurance payments during this pandemic and allow payment deferrals for those who have lost their jobs in these times of economic uncertainty. Thank you very much speaker and I appreciate the member from Brampton North raising this very important issue and as the member will understand from the foundational briefing provided to him through the Ministry of Finance this is a very complex issue because we have an auto insurance system that is overly complicated and full of conflict created actually by the NDP speaker and that means we have to tackle this problem in a fundamental way going after the root problems increasing competition, getting rid of the conflict in the system and attracting new entrants into the market by allowing for the use of technology such as user-based insurance, UBI and I'm proud to say that travellers insurance recently has announced a new quarter which will bring down rates for the great drivers of Brampton speaker. Our message to the ratepayers of Brampton and across this province is very clear the NDP created this mess we're going to fix it. That concludes question period for this morning. We have a deferred vote on the motion for second reading of bill 286 an act to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act 2002 to require specified actions with respect to Safe Drinking Water Frontarians living and working on reserves. The bells will now ring for 30 minutes during which time members may cast their votes. I'll ask the clerks to please prepare the lobbyists.