Steph Paquette

June 8, 2023

Will the Premier listen to Ontarians and keep their emergency rooms open?

France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt, asked the Premier yesterday morning why he will not listen to the many Ontarians who are asking for help to ensure their public hospitals’ emergency rooms can stay open.

“Last week the health coalition brought 400,000 Ontarians’ voices opposed to private health care to this legislature. Today Brock University students are here to show their dissatisfaction with this government’s privatization agenda. People representing Minden, Mount Forest, Palmerston, Listowel, Wingham, Seaforth, Clinton, Grey Bruce, Chesley, Thessalon are here, asking the Premier to reopen their ER or keep their ER open.

We live in a democracy. All those people come to Queen’s Park because they are scared, they are worried, they are anxious, they want to be heard. Why won’t the Premier listen to them?”

On May 26th and 27th, the Ontario Health Coalition held a referendum setting up almost one thousand polling locations across the province. They asked Ontarians whether they wanted public hospital services in Ontario to be privatized. There were over 400,000 votes in the referendum, with 98% of people voting against privatization.

May 30, 2023

The people of Northern Ontario are tired of waiting for this government

France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt, rose this morning in the Legislature to speak to the ongoing challenges facing people who what to buy a home or set up a business in Gogama.
“The beautiful community of Gogama in my riding is located across the street from a new gold mine. In 2020, the Premier came to the groundbreaking ceremony; he said and I quote: this gold mine will bring economic prosperity and change lives in Gogama. I agreed.

But for this to happen, people need a place to live and businesses a place to set up shop. Good news there are plenty of empty lots and empty homes located on paved roads, with streetlights, hydro, telephone, internet, water and sewage, everything a modern family or business needs.
But the bad news: none of them are available for sale. You know who owns them all speaker. The government of Ontario or as the locals call them the worst slumlord in this province.

Since 2020 my office has been relentless in trying to motivate this government to put them up for sale or at least rent them out. I wrote and delivered letters to the Premier, the Ministers of Finance, Government and consumer services, Infrastructure, Natural resources and Forest and the answers for the last 3 years has been crickets. While over a dozen properties are left to rot; Gogama like many other area of this province faces a housing crisis. Gogama is missing out, on the prosperity the Premier promised.

The people of Northern Ontario are tired of waiting. This government needs to put these homes and lots up for sale right now.”

The Côté Gold deposit outside Gogama is expected to employ 450+ full time employees for an 18-year project lifetime. The project is located across HWY 144 from the community of Gogama.

May 23, 2023

For-Profit outsourcing didn’t reduce Alberta wait times

During debate in the Legislature, France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt, encouraged the Ford Conservatives to read Failing to Deliver: The Alberta Surgical Initiative and Declining Surgical Capacity. Released this month, the research report examines the Alberta’s significant expansion of for-profit, corporate health care started in 2020 and the effects on access and wait times.
“I encourage all of you to read the Parkland Institute report that just came out from Andrew Longhurst, who looked at Bill 30—Bill 30 is basically the equivalent of Bill 60 but in Alberta. What did they find when they did an analysis? Researchers found that the privatization: increased public sector staffing shortages and destabilized public hospitals, led to unlawful extra billing and two-tier health care. There was also a higher cost of for-profit surgical delivery even though the patients accessing for-profit surgery were healthier and wealthier that an average patient. The research found evidence of conflict of interest in medical decision-making, where surgeries were offered and performed while there were patient safety and care quality concerns. All of this because, for-profit-held delivery maximizes profits by maintaining as low a staffing level as possible per patient” stated Gélinas.

“The findings in Alberta are exactly the same as the findings everywhere else this has been tried. It has been tried in the UK. It has been tried in different parts of Australia. Everywhere you try it, you end up with the exact same result. It cost the taxpayers more money. Their wait-lists are the longest of all of the provinces in Canada for most of the procedures, but there are some investors that are making millions of dollars off the backs of sick people. There is one corporation that made $108 million. That’s a lot of payments for nurses and quality care that is not being delivered, but this is the path this government has chosen.”

Failing to Deliver: The Alberta Surgical Initiative and Declining Surgical Capacity was released on May 16th 2023 by the Parkland Institute. An Alberta-wide, non-partisan research centre situated within the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta. Parkland Institute studies economic, social, cultural, and political issues facing Albertans and Canadians.

May 19, 2023

Why No Money in the Budget for Nurse Practitioners?

During debate in the Legislature, France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt, asked the Minister of Finance why there was very little money in Ontario’s budget to expand access to Nurse Practitioners.
“We all know there are close to two million Ontarians without access to primary care. In my riding it’s thirty thousand people who don’t have access. We also have some under employed nurse practitioners right here, right now who would love to provide care a thousand orphaned patients from Capreol, from Coniston or from South West Aboriginal Health Access centre, but yet there is very little money in the budget to do this.

Why is it that after all of them came and presented to the finance committee for the budget consultations telling us that we need investments in Nurse Practitioner Led Clinics, in Aboriginal Health Access Centres in Community Health Centres. Giving us road maps so that they can hire those nurse practitioners who live in Ontario right now and would love to take on rosters of primary care clients but yet the budget didn’t deliver.” Gélinas question. “What do you have to say to those thousands of Ontarians who know that they could get access to primary care if only your government would be willing to fund Nurse Practitioner Led Clinics, Community Health Centres and Aboriginal Health Access Centres? ”

Although the Minister stated funding for health is increasing by over $15 billion dollars over the next three years only $30 million has been allocated to expand Family Health Teams, Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics, Community Health Centres, Indigenous Primary Health Care Organizations; less than 0.2% of the budget increase. “This government knows that part of the solution is to funds positions for underemployed Nurse Practitioners who are ready to help alleviate the problems in primary care” Gélinas stated. “It’s beyond disappointing for Ontarians with no access to primary care.”

May 12, 2023

Families in Sudbury and Nickel Belt are tired of waiting for a family physician

France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt, asked the Minister of Health when the government will follow the recommendations of the Ontario College of Family Physicians to fix the provincial doctor shortage.
“Over 2.2 million Ontarians do not have a family physician; more than 360,000 of them are children. That number increases each and every month. It will reach three million people by 2025, as fewer medical students choose family practice, and more family physicians retire. The growing physician shortage will put more pressure on already overwhelmed hospitals, emergency departments, urgent care and even our long-term-care homes.

Family physicians need this government’s support to continue to provide top-quality care to us. They need access to team-based care, reduced administrative burdens and an electronic health record that actually works. Will this government listen to Ontario family physicians and act upon their recommendations?”

On February 9, 2023, the Ontario College of Family Physicians cited research from INSPIRE Primary Health Care which found that almost 15% of Ontarians do not have a regular family physician. They also stated previously that Ontario is on track to have 1-in-5 people without access to a family physician by 2025.

May 8, 2023

Bill 60 is the end of Medicare as we know it

France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt, rose this morning in the Legislature to urge government members of the Legislative Assembly to vote down Bill 60.

“Today is a sad day, a day that will go down in the history of our province as the day the Ford government delivered a fatal blow to our treasured Medicare. Today, this Conservative government will say “goodbye” to care based on needs and “come on in” to investors who want to make money off the backs of sick people. Because make no mistake, Speaker, there is a lot of money to be made off of people who are sick, who are desperate for care in the hope of getting better. Investors know that. They know that sick people are at a vulnerable time in their lives, and it is easy to abuse that vulnerability to increase profits.

The Minister says that we need the changes in Bill 60 to decrease wait times but look at our hospital job boards: there are over 36,000 health-care-job vacancies in our hospitals right now. How are they supposed to recruit when for-profit clinics will offer a Monday-to-Friday, 9 to 5 jobs? It will make the wait for hospital care increase tremendously. But the rich and powerful friends of our Premier, they will have faster access, using their credit cards to get to the front of the line, while the rest of us hold our hats.

To my MPP colleagues: Do the right thing. Vote down Bill 60. ”

The NDP put forward 74 amendments to Bill 60, which aimed to improve transparency, accountability, protect patients and ensure that the Colleges that regulate Ontario’s healthcare professionals will be able to maintain professionals’ oversight. The government voted down all these amendments.

April 27, 2023

What is the government doing to ensure that emergency rooms in Ontario can stay open?

France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt, asked the Minister of Health what the government will be doing to ensure that emergency rooms in Ontario hospitals do not have to keep closing.
“We heard what happened at Minden hospital; without any consultation, the residents were told their emergency room will closed for ever on June 1st. Now let’s look at Carleton Place hospital. The local hospital was forced to close its emergency department overnight because there weren’t enough staff to keep it open. A week before, it was its sister hospital that was closed overnight due to staff shortages—its third closure in as many months.

Ontario had exactly one, yes one, unplanned emergency room closure in the last 15 years. But in the last year alone we’ve now had 160, emergency room closures. 160 closures in a single year. This isn’t normal, Speaker, and we should not pretend that it is. What new measures will the Premier take today to stop the closure of emergency rooms across our province?”

This high number of emergency room closures last year was reported by the Ottawa Citizen on March 28th, 2023. A hundred and sixty emergency room closures in one year under this minister’s watch.

Let’s go to Chesley. In Chesley right now, if a child requires care on a Saturday, they are out of luck. Their local emergency room is now closed evenings and weekends due to staff shortages. People are worried that this is a sign that the end is near for their hospital. The member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound said that he wants Chesley hospital to return to full service. But it does not look good, Speaker. Would the Premier agree the people of Chesley deserve the services of a full-time emergency room? What will the government do to keep the emergency rooms open in our province?”

The Ontario Nurses Association says the conservative government Bill 124 is directly related to staff shortages.

April 24, 2023

Will the government properly fund Stevenson Memorial Hospital?

France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt, asked the Minister of Health whether the government will give the necessary funding to Stevenson Memorial Hospital to ensure that they do not have to lay off nurses.

“Speaker, as our province’s healthcare system continues to face staffing shortages and patients are seeing record wait times, more than a dozen nurses are being laid off at Stevenson Memorial Hospital. Can the Minister of Health explain what led this hospital to have to lay off 13 nurses?”

In November of 2022, the ONA stated that Ontario has at least 24,000 nurses fewer than the Canadian average.

“While most healthcare settings are desperately hiring nurses, Stevenson Memorial Hospital is laying off nurses because they are facing a deficit because the government does not fund them enough. We all know where those nurses will end up… working for big, for-profit corporations receiving hundreds of millions of dollars diverted from the public healthcare system to private profits.
Will this Government allocate the funds to Stevenson Memorial Hospital for the nurses that their patients need and deserve?”

This legislature’s own Financial Accountability Officer projected last month that we will be short 33,000 nurses and personal support workers by 2028.

April 20, 2023

Will the Premier investigate the for-profit use of Ottawa Hospital operating rooms?

France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt asked the Premier this morning whether he will investigate the leasing of operating rooms in an Ottawa Hospital for private, for-profit surgeries.

There have been 60 surgeries performed by for-profit companies on weekends at the Ottawa Hospital, Riverside Campus, and a further 60 more are scheduled to take place.

“Premier, we all know that the privatization of orthopaedic surgery, the poaching of staff from our public hospitals is exactly what this government wants to do with Bill 60. But section 4 of the Ontario Public Hospitals Act is very clear: Leasing any space in a public hospital requires the explicit written approval of the Ministry of Health. You can’t even put a Tim Hortons in a hospital without ministerial approval. The law in Ontario is clear: The Ottawa Hospital cannot lease its operating room without the explicit written approval of the Minister of Health. I hope the Premier knows that.

When will the Premier investigate the apparent breach of Ontario laws by the for-profit corporation leasing operating rooms at the Ottawa Hospital?” asked Gélinas.

April 19, 2023

Northern Ontarians need help with health travel costs

France Gélinas, MPP for Nickel Belt spoke in the legislature this morning about the need for better funding to support Northern Ontarians who have to travel long distances to access healthcare.

“Speaker, the Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG) was set up to ease the financial burden of Northerners having to travel down South for medical reasons. As it currently exists, the NHTG is leaving many Northern patients in vulnerable situations, unable to access the care they need.

You see Speaker, a patient needs to have the money upfront to travel to see a specialist and then weeks or months later they get reimbursed. Many low-income patients cannot afford those upfront costs, and so for them the door to treatment is closed shut.

The Minister knows that there is a barrier to care. So she gave me a list of 17 agencies in Nickel Belt who the Minister says provide upfront funding for those in need. My OLIP intern Sophie called each of those organizations. If you are a member of a First Nation, currently on Ontario Work or Ontario Disability Support Program, or a child registered with Easter Seals, you can get a bit of help. But for most people there is no help available.

Minister, this is wrong, people should not have to come to see me, desperate for care, but unable to pay for their bus ticket to Toronto. It’s clear Ontario needs an emergency fund, available to the people in the North facing these circumstances; because what we have now, does not work! ”