While a funding announcement for a compostable products manufacturing facility was the main reason for Doug Ford’s stop in Dundalk on Friday, several other issues were addressed by the premier over his approximately half-hour visit to the community.

Ford was in the Eco-Park at the south end of town along with other officials and dignitaries where he announced a $500,000 grant for the new Greenlid manufacturing facility being built there.

But he also touched on subjects such as the privatization of health-care, staffing shortages in hospitals and long-term care homes, affordable and attainable housing, and worker shortages.

On the privatization of health-care, Ford said the government is meeting with stakeholders in the health-care sector to explore their options, but people could expect to still receive health care with their OHIP card and not their credit card.

Ford guaranteed “100 per cent” that hospital stays, food and medication would continue to be completely covered by OHIP.

But he said the system can’t continue the way it is.

“Every single doc, every single nurse, every single CEO I talk to say two things: it is not a money issue, we have to do things differently,” Ford said. “So we are going to get the best ideas from the professionals and we are going to implement those ideas.”

Ford said that if there is a way to deliver better publicly funded health care, his government is going to do it.

“It is going to be the health-care sector telling us how to deliver it, not the government telling the health-care sector how to deliver it,” Ford said.

It was during the discussion on health care when Ford swallowed a bee, which quickly made its rounds on social media.

“Let me rush into the hospital and get this bee out of here,” he cracked, before taking more questions from reporters.

Ford also addressed the rising rates being charged to health-care providers using nurses from private agencies.

Ford said he can’t dictate what private sector companies pay their employees, but he said they would be taking care of their frontline health-care workers with funding.

Ford said Bill 124, which limits public sector wage increases including those of nurses, will lapse and new negotiations will be held. The moderation period for the bill runs until Dec. 31, 2024.

Ford said a $5,000 “thank you bonus,” paid to nurses is equal to a 7.6 per cent increase which he called the largest in the country, and is something the nurses he talks to are very grateful to have received.

He vowed to work with the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario and the Ontario Nurses Association.

“If we work together there is nothing that can stop us,” said Ford. “We always appreciate our nurses and they are going to be treated fairly all the time.”

Ford said 30,000 long-term care beds are being built to take some of the thousands of alternative level of care patients who are taking up beds in hospitals.

“We are going to continue building beds and getting people into a nice atmosphere that they can live and have a good life there,” Ford said.

On housing and development, Ford addressed extra charges developers are passing on to homebuyers to cover added costs being blamed on inflation and COVID-19 supply chain issues.

Ford said young people are saving everything they have, signing contracts with developers and then are being told they owe more.

“I have zero tolerance for that and we are going to continue monitoring it and make sure they aren’t allowed to go there and pull the carpet out from underneath them,” Ford said. “I get that the price of lumber is going up, steel is going up and labour obviously is going up. What I am focused on in housing is attainable housing.”

Ford said he plans to work collaboratively with municipalities, developers and the federal government to bring in programs that encourage more attainable housing. Ford spoke in favour of the development of more modular homes.

“We need companies building modular homes that we can just come here, within two weeks, bang it is up there and you can walk through your door,” he said. “That is the quickest way of getting things done.”

Ford said the need for attainable housing ties in directly with the need to bring in more skilled workers to fill job vacancies in the province.

“You see over in this area a lot of signs. One is Flato developments who is building all over the place and they are giving back to the community,” Ford said. “As we get people here we need to make sure we have the housing.”

He asked the federal government to “pick up the pace” to allow more immigrants into Ontario to fill the vacant positions.

“It is just unacceptable we are getting 9,000 and change when we are short 380,000,” Ford said. “Let the federal government do their job, do the security check, and then hand the people over to us. We will do the health check, we will get them employed.”

Ford also had some strong words about the unity within the Conservative Party caucus after suggestions that they were being punished after Ted Arnott was elected Speaker of the house over his preferred choice, Nina Tangri.

“We have a very strong team and we are going to deliver a very, very strong agenda for the people of Ontario,” said Ford. “We have our hands full.”

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