It was an afternoon full of passionate pleas by members of the Opposition at Queen's Park as Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath introduced her motion that she says would fix health care in the northern region.
Members of the Ontario legislature were voting on a motion from Horwath that would have the government create a plan to address the doctor and nurse shortage in the north while helping families get the care they need more quickly.
"I think everyone would agree every Ontarian deserves access to timely health care when and where they need it, but for far too long health care has not been equitably accessible in the north," said Horwath.
"Alarm bells have been going off for some time now."
The NDP leader cited a statistic from the Ontario Medical Association that said the region was short more than 300 doctors.
"The average life expectancy is lower than most of the province. It's lower than most of the province because of successful Liberal and Conservative governments that have refused to make the investments people deserve to live a long life," she said.
"We're here to say 'we're going to fix it, come together and solve these types of problems.'"
One by one, many of the members of the NDP caucus stood up in support of the motion including the party's health critic, Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas.
"Equitable doesn't mean that we're doing lung transplants in Gogama, but we should have access to a doctor," said Gélinas.
"We need solutions to be implemented."
The motion drew support from members of Ontario's Green and Liberal parties.
"This is exactly why we have conversations in this house about things like license plate stickers, for example," said Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner.
"To take $1.1 billion out of the treasury, I want to talk about how it directly relates to the conversations we're having right now."
"If the government wants to get serious about recruiting and retaining health care workers across this province, but especially in the north, they're going to have to look at compensation," said Ottawa South Liberal MPP John Fraser.
The Ford government later weighed in after being called out by Timmins MPP Gilles Bisson for not participating in the debate.
"I thought it's as respectful to listen to my colleagues who might want to talk about their own communities in the north," said Eglington-Lawrence Progressive Conservative MPP Robin Martin, who is also the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health.
"I'm really happy to talk about all the great improvements that our government is making in northern Ontario," Martin said.
"The unique challenges facing northern communities sometimes require unique solutions and we're pleased studies show physician supply will soon exceed supply growth."
Martin listed expenditures the PCs have made across the province, including those that impact northern Ontario.
"To meet the demand for addictions treatment, investments will support 396 new treatment beds for everyone in Ontario, including those in northern Ontario," she said.
"The Ontario Health Agency is also helping with recruitment and retention."
There was a disagreement over the Northern Ontario School of Medicine when it came to numbers. Martin said the Ford government has done a lot to expand the school and increase enrolment, but Bisson said six additional residencies was just a drop in the bucket compared to what they were looking for.
"The government will never stop working to ensure Ontarians have access to the help they need including northern Ontario," Martin said.
"The Government of Ontario continues to build on the need, while the Opposition votes' no' each time they come to the legislature."
Martin was the only MPP to speak for the Ford government.
In the end, the motion failed by a vote of 44-23, with northern MPPs Norm Miller, Greg Rickford and Ross Romano all voting against.
