 for time for question period the leader of Her Majesty's Royal Opposition. Thank you and good morning Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. The response to yesterday's shocking revelation from the Auditor General that this government has deliberately understated Ontario's deficit by five billion dollars this year has been swift. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce issued a statement yesterday after the auditor affirmed Ontario actually has an 11.7 billion dollar deficit. They wrote quote if the province of Ontario were a publicly held company we as shareholders deserve and demand clarity and accountability from our board and our auditors this is similarly our right as Ontarians. Speaker business confidence in this government is shake a question is the Premier's reelection bid worth destabilizing investment confidence in Ontario. Well you know Mr. Speaker I know that the minister responsible for the Treasury Board the President Treasury Board is going to want to comment on this but Mr. Speaker in fact the only reason that we are having this conversation is that this government Mr. Speaker introduced the fiscal transparency and accountability act and therefore there is a pre-election report Mr. Speaker that's why we are having this conversation so you know I think that through the through the pre-election report the Office of the Auditor General's analysis Ontarians are given the information that they need to make an informed decision Mr. Speaker the fact is there is an ongoing dispute between professional accountants that is a reality it's been going on for a couple of years Mr. Speaker it is absolutely true that there is a disagreement between I'm quite prepared to move immediately to warnings if I hear further outbursts yes they are outbursts you're supposed to be quiet during question period believe it or not and it's in the standing orders and I'm going to fulfill them Premier just to say Mr. Speaker it is an ongoing dispute between professional accountants we recognize that we respect the perspective of the Auditor General but that dispute has been going on for a couple of years Mr. Speaker supplementary terrible back to the Premier well no speaker we're having this conversation because the government continues to present an incorrect picture of the province's finances the Ontario Chamber had even more to say they wrote quote it is deeply concerning that the government of Ontario would be accused of not following Canadian public sector accounting standards uh speaker when the auditor general summed it up she said quote when expenses are understated the perception is created that the government has more money available than it actually does just in time for a pre-election budget how convenient speaker the Premier needs to know the jig is up will she admit the government's numbers are wrong thank you thank you Mr. Speaker I thank the member opposite first question because it provides me with the opportunity to provide some much needed context to this discussion speaker first of all again want to thank the auditor general for her response to the pre-election report we appreciate her work to ensure that the public received an independent assessment of our province's finances and let me remind the House and the member opposite of something critically important we passed legislation to do this speaker so the notion that we aren't being transparent is not only factually incorrect it risks sending a negative and an appropriate message to the people of Ontario and that is exactly what this what they're doing speaker they they're not they're undermining the member from the p in Carlton is warned carry on the members opposite speaker want to continue to undermine confidence in our province and our and our provincial institutions that's up to them the member from Leeds Grenville is warned carry on but here's precisely what the auditor said in case the member opposite missed it the pre-election report provides a reasonable and somewhat cautious underpinning for the medium term fiscal forecast she said we were reasonable and cautious thank you well back to the premier actually speaker we on this side of the house and the people of Ontario they understand that it's the government who put the government at risk nobody out speaker the auditor general's job is to state the true picture of ontario's finances now based on the auditor's shocking revelation here's more from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce quote the government of Ontario and through them the people of Ontario either respect our legislative officers or we do not that is exactly why our Ontario PC leader Doug Ford has committed a full audit of the government's books to restore responsibility accountability and trust in government speaker can the premier tell us today what is the government of ontario minister finances warned finish please can the premier tell us today exactly what is the government of ontario's deficit for 2018-19 thank you thank you mr speaker you know speaker listening to the rhetoric from the opposite side let me just respond to something very important that the member opposite just said implicitly the leader of the pc party Doug Ford is now questioning the auditor general's competency and i'll tell you why he says that he's going to provide independent audience guess what that discounts speaker our professional and highly competent public servants our professional deputy minister of the treasury board and the deputy minister of finance that not only sign off on our fiscal plan give us precisely the kind of advice and confidence in our book speaker that we need and by the way when it comes to some of the issues that the auditor general outlined in her report we also had independent advice speaker by some of the most credible accounting firms in the world we stand by that mr speaker we respectfully remind the member opposite that we have a respectful disagreement with the auditor general and once again we thank her for her work thank you mr speaker new question the leader of the opposition thank you speaker my question is for the premier the auditor general was clear the government's deficit numbers are off by five billion dollars this year five point five billion dollars next year and six billion dollars off almost a hundred percent off the following year those revealed deficits are projected to grow to a total of sixteen point six billion over the next three years now we now know that in their desperation the premier in this government have betrayed the public's trust that's why our leader Doug Ford has today promised that when elected we will launch an independent commission of inquiry this new commission will get to the bottom of the liberal deficit scandal and properly and propose timely solutions to solving the deficit problem question speaker why does it always take the OPP the auditor general or an investigative commission to get to the truth with this speaker you know it's troubling in the to say the least the member opposite would conflate a respected opinion of an independent officer of this legislature with motive or intent as the spouse of a former OPP officer i can tell you clearly speaker that this is not about that what this is about and we said it yesterday is a couple of things number one reminding the public of the confidence that's necessary in our public institution and not undermining those which is precisely what the member opposite is doing second we thank the auditor general for her service and we respectfully remind this house and the Ontario public that we have a difference of opinion and that is a respectful difference of opinion speaker and it will remain so because we are committed to seeking professional advice from professional accountants we did that but we also have a highly respected public service the member opposite diminishes that when he talks about the credibility of our work speaker and our work as a provincial government thank you mr. speaker supplementary well thank you back to the premier this is not about a difference of opinion speaker this is about desperation we cannot trust anything this liberal government ever estimates or projects again their budget is no longer worth the paper it was printed on the people of this province are angry and they want answers dug forward and the Ontario pcs are going to get those answers it took 15 years for the liberals to create this mess and it will not be resolved overnight but we will restore Ontario to fiscal health in a responsible manner speaker i'll ask the premier one more time why does it always take the OPP the auditor general or an investigative commission to get to the truth with this premier and this government consider please consider please thank you so mr. speaker the member opposite now wants to do an audit of the auditor the minister the member opposite i'm not sure what independent auditing team they intend to use is a kpmg is it deloitte is it e and y or is it duggy for that's going to go out there and look at the book special speaker let me be clear stop the clock regardless if the member has status in the house or not i would ask all members that this is not the time to be disrespectful in this house to anyone and i would ask your indulgence to use proper names and in this house titles or writings mr. speaker the auditor general does make clear that the pre-election report does provide a reasonable and cautious underpinning of those fiscal forecasts that we made the auditor general only reflects on two issues and they've been the same two issues for the past number of years it's a reflection of pension assets which the auditor general feels we should actually discount but every other auditor including herself in the past has agreed with and the second one is a fair hydro plan which these independent world renowned accounting firms have prepared she says it's not wrong to actually do this kind of rate regulation she doesn't like it and that's not our thank you supplementary premier the auditor general told us yesterday in her news conference that when you get pushed back from the government like she's getting that's the time for ontario to worry speaker and now it's obvious to everyone in ontario how this election document the liberals tabled was a 100 percent sham none of the care promises were included in the budget legislation only the tax increases made it in speaker this premier can never be trusted again but i tell the people of ontario that help is on the way dug forward in the Ontario pcs we will deliver our commitments clean up the scandals and the waste and protect the services that people of ontario deserve and we will not quit until we have restored responsibility account thank you minister believer is warned minister finds mr speaker the member opposite is claiming that they are not going to help the people of ontario they're going to cut programs for the people of ontario they're going to cut the services cut the investments and cut the ability to us to for ontario to be strong and continue to grow the mr speaker dated april 24th a couple of days ago by a rating agency and this is what they said dbrs limited says this the province of ontario has and respectively has confirmed ontario's electricity financial corporation long-term obligations as well as the province's rating as double a the trend on all ratings are stable including opg iso and the province of ontario they know what's going on and they're supporting ontario all the way you see it please thank you new question the leader of the third party can the premier explain to ontarians why it was more important for her to have the lowest corporate tax rate in canada than it was to fund hospitals and and hallway medicine we believe that we have to be competitive and we have to provide services for people in this province mr speaker that's actually the role of government it's extremely important that business wants to be here that job creation can happen and in fact mr speaker since i've been the premier 400 000 net new jobs have been created mostly in the private sector so it's extremely important that those jobs are created because mr speaker that is how the wealth of the province is created and then we can make the investments in health care and education that are needed and we have every year mr speaker every budget we have increased funding to health care we have increased funding to education mr speaker and we will continue to do so one does not exist without the other is not possible to have an economy that doesn't include wealth creation and investment in its people mr speaker it's about sharing the wealth that's the issue which is what the liberals never have been able to figure out the premier's tax cuts have put money in the pockets of the wealthiest ontarians and into the bank accounts of ontario's most profitable corporations those dollars came out of hospitals and health care speaker and the result is that we now have hallway medicine in ontario does the premier think that that's right mr speaker i wonder when the ndp and you know they were on this uh attack yesterday i wonder when they stand up and basically argue that we should not be a competitive jurisdiction that we should find ways to be uncompetitive mr speaker i wonder where they believe the funds come from to invest in health care to invest in education mr speaker there is an integral relationship between the ability of this province to create wealth to create an environment where business can thrive to create jobs we in this province mr speaker we are at an unemployment low of 20 years mr speaker we have not had such low unemployment and that's because jobs have been created it's because people can find jobs it's because we're competitive and at the same time mr speaker we are making record investments in health care those two things go together mr speaker well speaker i do meet with chambers of commerce across ontario and over and over they tell me that businesses count on our health care system it is one of our best competitive advantages hurting our health care system is actually bad for business i have a plan to make our tax system fair corporate taxes will be below the national average below states like california pennsylvania new jersey connecticut wisconsin but it will ask the wealthiest people and most profitable corporations to pay their fair share so that we can end hallway medicine something that is in all of our interest speaker why doesn't the premier get that economic development growth economic development growth well thanks very much speaker as the premier has said on repeated occasions in response to these kinds of questions from the ndp we know that we have prosperity here in the province of ontario because our premier and our government continue to invest in our people continue to invest in the core public services of the people of this province depend upon including public health care including public education and also including making sure that we have a competitive tax regime in place so that the entire province can prosper speaker that's been the focus of our work over the last number of years and it will continue to be as we go forward because we know that we've had economic success but we need the entire province to share in that prosperity and success and that's what we are exclusively focused on thanks very much speaker thank you new question the leader of the third party thank you speaker my next question is also for the premier every dollar that the premier hands to the wealthiest ontarians comes from somewhere under this premier it came from hospitals four years of frozen budgets speaker it's no wonder that there's a crisis in health care when the premier refuses to have anyone pay for it why is the premier more interested in tax cuts than fixing health care well mr. speaker again you know i i believe that our health care system is two things it is the finest expression of our value system and our belief as a society that we have a responsibility to care for each other mr. speaker and it is also as the as the leader of the third party says it is also a competitive advantage she's absolutely right about that and the reason it's a competitive advantage mr. speaker is that it is excellent and so when i talk to businesses in other countries that are looking at ontario and considering investing here mr. speaker or expanding their businesses here they do look at our health care system it is excellent and the reason it is excellent mr. speaker is we have continued to invest in it there are more nurses mr. speaker our wait times are among the best in the country we know that there's more to be done we recognize that there's 822 million dollars in our budget mr. speaker there was 500 million dollars last year just for hospitals to make sure that hospitals have the resources that they need but we have an excellent health care system mr. speaker it is part of our competitive advantage and it will continue to be mr. speaker well speaker unlike this premier my value system does not include hallway medicine for the people of ontario being treated in hospital hallways because the premier would rather hand money to her rich friends than invest in our hospitals and if people think that it is bad now doug fords cuts and health care privatization will make things even worse it's time i think to end the crisis that this premier has created and doug ford certainly is not the answers answer new democrats will in fact end hallway medicine and my question is why did the premier let things get so bad thank you very well mr. speaker let's let's talk about um what we what we know uh needs to happen at this point mr. speaker and i you know i i completely reject the notion that the leaders of third party puts forward that i don't believe that there's more investment that's needed mr. speaker or that it's acceptable for people to get care that's not adequate and mr. speaker we have made investments every single year in our health care system and mr. speaker what we are saying now is that there is more investment that is needed mr. speaker we've been very clear i said uh earlier 822 million dollars we know that's the that's the number that we have worked with the ontario hospital association that investment is in our budget mr. speaker but last year there was a 500 million dollar investment mr. speaker because we recognize that as the population ages as the there are growth parts of the province where there's more population and more need we make sure that those parts of the province and that hospitals across the province have what they need mr. speaker we recognize that there's more that needs to be done but we have an excellent health care system it is a competitive advantage and it will continue to be final supplementary well speaker what's very clear is this government's been in office for 15 years and look what we have as a result a hallway medicine crisis that's exactly what they have we have they had 15 years to deal with it and they made things worse speaker a health care system without hallway medicine is good for business it's good for people health care is a basic that people should be able to expect from their government but for 15 years the liberal government chose the wealthy and the most profitable corporations instead of health care we didn't have to end up here speaker but there is hope an ndp government will fix it will this premiere finally admit that she has created this health care crisis health and long-term care sure health and long-term care mr. speaker it's two months since i became the minister of health and long-term care and i have had the privilege of visiting health care facilities of all types across this province in the two months and i can tell this house that ontario should be proud of the health care system that we currently have we know we have more to do we're intent on improving the system but we have built a system that is doing an incredible job of keeping our loved ones safe healthy and well our life expectancy for males and females is now at 65 is higher than the national average it's one of highest in the OECD when we look at hospital deaths cancer outcomes avoidable deaths from health outcomes compared to other provinces compared to other developed countries we are in the top level of health care systems we have one of the lowest rate of potential years of life lost i want to thank yet again all the health professionals across this province who are doing an amazing job thank you to keep ontarians healthy thank you my question is the minister of finance the liberals were caught yesterday with a secret hidden ledger of the government's finances that proved that they have doubled their deficit overnight from 6.7 billion dollars to 11.7 billion the auditor was very clear that their sneaky way of budgeting is costing ontario families over 100 000 if it's a family of four that's 23 000 in debt now and over 26 000 per person in 2021 and a reminder speaker that this is up from the 11 000 when they took office ontarians are telling us that they can't afford this liberal government anymore with their waste and mismanagement and their massive distrust of this government because they do not feel there is value for their tax dollar will the minister of finance finally admit that the emperor has no clothes and that that government has run out of people's money i'm going to speak again we thank the auditor general for the report and we recognize that the auditor general made very clear that all the assumptions the government put forward was cautious and were reasonable two items are in dispute between professional accountants not with the government of ontario but with other accounting firms and and professional accounts in the system she's arguing has for some time that the pension assets should be amended notwithstanding the fact that those very same principles have been adhered to for the past 20 years mr speaker and now on the second point we are taking one and a half billion dollars off the tax base to support reductions in our reductions of electricity costs especially for the rural communities then there's another proportionate amount that's coming off the rate base to amortize that asset the auditor general feels that shouldn't be done that way yet every other rate-regulated system allows for it remember from prince Edward Hastings his lord supplementary fact is there's only one auditor and she said that your projections are not reasonable she also said the perception is created that the government has more money than it actually does there is only one auditor and this is the government let me remind you that brought in the single largest sales tax increase in ontario's history with the hsd brought in the single largest income tax history in the ontario history with the uh with the health tax they brought in the single largest environmental tax in the province with the eco tax only to be eclipsed with their cap and trade program all along these revenues have gone into the general revenue not to specific programs and yet they still have an eleven point seven billion dollar deficit using other people's money speaker ontarians cannot afford the liberals anymore and they simply cannot trust them either so will the finance minister stand in his place and tell us what else he is hiding in the books or does Doug Ford have to come in and do it thank you minister mr speaker now the members questioning the auditor once again the fact of the matter the auditor has reaffirmed all the principles are operating appropriately and all the accounting is in fact accurate what is she saying is she would prefer that the rate fair hydro plan come off the tax base not the rate base we made a policy decision by government to support the rate payers reduce the cost of electricity and amortize it over a longer period of time which is allowed mr speaker and it is provided by Deloitte it's provided by kpng and eny and the auditor goes further the books of opg which is carrying this debt she acknowledges that it's transparent that it's there to be seen she acknowledges that the clean audit by eny is accurate and she affirms that mr speaker what's being hidden are the cuts that that member and her party are about to do to people of ontario we're going to grow our economy and we're going to continue on our fiscal tract about and make sure you see it please you see it please new question the member from london fanshark speaker my questions to the premier carol contacted my office she told us her husband is forced to live in long-term care because he can't get the care he needs and she is concerned for his health it is steadily deteriorating but he is still not getting enough physiotherapy his psw can only help with him with his exercises if there's enough time left over after his basic care is completed and with only six to eight minutes per session that just never happens carol's husband needs more hands-on care after 15 years in office why has this premier failed to legislate the minimum standard four hours of hands-on care that long-term care residents and people like carol carols husband desperately need health long-term care our long-term care facilities to ensure that each individual patient in their care receives the appropriate level of support that they need and in particular of course we have continued to invest in long-term care in our most recent budget of course we are investing an additional 300 million dollars over three years to increase staffing in long-term care this is driven by our analysis of the patient the clientele that are actually in long-term care facilities mr. speaker they are aging they have complex conditions it's a good thing of course that people are living longer our life expectancy has increased we need to obviously address those conditions that go with aging and we're doing this on an individual basis on the analysis done by our linds in a thoroughly appropriate way thank you mr. speaker thank you supplementary speaker carol and her husband tried to avoid long-term care but they live in a rural area like so many rural ontarians they can't get the home care they need they looked into retirement homes and assisted living to meet his needs but at the cost of eight thousand dollars per month it's simply unaffordable so he was forced to live in long-term care and he could spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair because he's not getting the physio that he needs it is simply unacceptable it shouldn't have to be this way and no one in Ontario should have to live like this why is this premier left people like carol's husband without the access to care that they need no one is admitted to a long-term care home unless they qualify for that degree of assistance so i would question the member opposite's premise of her question in addition to the 300 million dollars over three years what this actually means that every long-term care home in the province will benefit from an additional registered nurse this is part of our commitment to increasing the hours of care each resident receives to a provincial average of four hours per resident per day this is based on an individual need for each individual patient carefully assessed by the long-term care facility staff and so this is going to mean an additional 15 million hours of nursing personal support and therapeutic care for our loved ones living in long-term care we will continue to remain responsive to the residents individual needs for care thank you mr speaker thank you your question the member from david thank you mr speaker and my question is for the minister responsible for small business david port is made up mostly small businesses and making sure that ontario has a competitive business climate where businesses can grow and compete is important to me and i know it's important for this government as well from reducing the small business tax rate by 22 to saving businesses millions by reducing rate tape the numbers don't lie ontario has created over 821 000 jobs since the recession and our unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in almost two decades but the summer season is fast approaching and we have heard from some small business owners that they face some challenges when trying to hire young people mr speaker can the minister please tell us what this government is doing to help lower costs for small businesses when hiring and retaining youth well thank you very much mr speaker i want to thank the member from david port for the questions this morning mr speaker exactly two weeks ago i had the pleasure to announce the employment young talent and incentive with minister hunter my riding at peter bro this is an investment of 124 million dollars over three years that not only helps businesses hire retain youth age 50 to 19 but also provides an opportunity for local businesses to provide good jobs for young people like amanda gurney an employee at morrell's of peter bro that i shop at every week businesses that hire retained young employees through the employment service on youth job connection program can receive up to two thousand dollars mr speaker we know that that's a smart investment in fact since the senator officially launched in january nearly 70 young people in my riding have been hired in various local businesses in my riding smart and strategic investments like these are what will ensure small businesses can continue to create good local jobs at every corner of ontario thank you supplementary so thank you minister for your answer it's clear that this government is committed to delivering results for businesses and communities that we are choosing to make strategic investments and programs that boost economic growth and help ontario families because we know that cutting important programs and incentives would be the most irresponsible thing to do small businesses play an important role in my riding of davenport and really speaker across all communities in ontario and we're delivering on our commitments like eliminating fees on government procurement opportunities and designating 33 percent of government procurement to small businesses mr speaker this is only a fraction of what this government is doing and has done will the minister please tell us more about other initiatives the government this government has taken to lower costs for small businesses thank you minister thank you and i want to thank mr spree want to thank the member from davenport for the supplementary mr speaker those who believe in cutting corporate taxes will save small businesses money we know that the only ones benefit benefiting from big corporate tax cuts are big corporations we're making smart investments that will actually save small business owners time and money the world of business is changing we're making sure that entrepreneurs and small business owners have the skills and tools to complete we recently announced a 12 million dollar of our main street digital initiative to help small businesses across main streets and ontario compete and grow business can receive up to two thousand five hundred dollars in grants to help them with their digital transformation as they embrace new technology mr speaker just yesterday i had the opportunity to visit st cathards ontario with my good friend the member to take a stroll down st paul street the main street st cathard and i couldn't believe it store to store the small business small business they actually told me things are booming in st cathards today and they couldn't believe it and then mr speaker as i was finishing my tour they said they don't understand the doom and gloom from the opposite side of us what business is booming at every part of ontario mr speaker my question is to the premier last night the government posted a news release announcing 17 new justice of the peace appointments moments later the news release was deleted and removed from the archives why the secrecy thank you general general thank you very much speaker appreciate the the question i i will look into why the news release was removed we have appointed 17 new justice of peace as the member opposite no no that we have a very strong independent process to to appoint justice of peace through our justice of peace advisory committee also known as a jpeg which does all the posting and interviews and recommendations independent of the government it may be that maybe that one or two people were not informed who being who being who being appointed as justice peace and that's why the release was removed but i undertake to get back to the member and get the reason behind it thank you supplementary or it may be that some of the people who were appointed have two close ties to the liberal government we know that might have been it stop come to order finish please will the premier today table those 17 justice of the peace appointees and let the people decide whether there is a connection that needs to be further explored a speaker i'm not surprised that the member opposite will go in that direction i'm i'm really assuming there is a there is a human error that's involved i can assure the member as the attorney general i take my responsibility very very seriously in an appointing the most highest of the highest caliber of individuals to serve as our judges and justice of peace these people are our class act i've i've been actually at events with the with the with the judiciary with our lawyers in our great province and one of the complements i continue to hear is the quality and the caliber of individuals who serve as our judges and justice of peace we have an extremely strong independent process by which judges and justice of peace are appointed i can assure you i'm absolutely confident that when you will see those 17 names you will you will realize how confident they are i don't know and i don't know what the technical reasons why the news releases down i will make sure that news releases up as soon as possible thank you new question the member from s6 thank you thank you speaker my question is to the premier speaker in 2012 the liberal government suddenly and unilaterally decided to kill the highly successful slots at racetrack program since then we have seen the destruction of a once vibrant horse racing and breeding industry that supplied 65 000 good rural jobs in ontario a couple weeks ago horse people in smaller tracks were blindsided again after the government announced that it had offered a long-term funding deal negotiated between the olg ontario racing and the private for-profit woodbine entertainment group speaker why didn't the premier properly consult horse people in smaller tracks on this deal that will determine the future of horse racing in ontario for generations to come thank you for the question it gives me great pleasure to reaffirm what it is that we are doing in regards to the horse racing we have now concluded a hundred and five million dollar 19-year contract so to enable the the horse racing industry to have funding we're enhancing what's called the enhancement to horse improvement program extended for a year over year by omafra we have a new race track sustainability and innovation fund of six million over three years to support those smaller tracks and expanded resources of revenue and we have an additional funding arrangement supplement with the race tracks that may be experiencing financial shortfalls which enables long-term decisions in the racing community furthermore mr. speaker we're providing a new board the ontario racing board which actually will oversee the funding improvements and enabling the service provider to be determined on that board will be small tracks and horse people and horsemen mr. speaker to ensure that everybody's property represented supplementary uh speaker that the minister of finances answer is exactly what we're concerned about this is what the problem is speaker when greg welling the government special advisor on the horse racing industry resigned last fall he had a warning for the premier he said quote beware of woodbind's dominant position in the proposed structures of administration not only are they the player they are the scorekeeper and the referee the premier ignored this warning and handed over a near monopoly control of horse racing to this private for-profit corporation not only that she's forcing horse people and tracks to decide by may the first whether to sign off on this lopsided agreement speaker well the premier withdraw this arbitrary rush deadline and take the time to listen to the concerns of horse people and smaller tracks in rural ontario thank you minister speaker that's exactly what we're doing we're ensuring that they have representation on the board we're ensuring that their voices are heard we're ensuring that there is no oversight or monopoly on one race track over another we're giving them the opportunity so that they are enabling themselves to be heard and make the appropriate decisions to fund ongoing basis speaker that is the purpose of having that oversight prior to giving the service provider the ability to make those changes furthermore woodbind has a declining receipt over time as the industry may get stronger we need to support the small horse tracks we need to support the horse people and the horsemen and we have met with all of the both the reason why the minister didn't know i was standing is because he was not addressing the chair as all members are supposed to do both questions and answers i'm always right bob my apologies new question the member from beaches east shore well thank you speaker uh my questions to the minister of economic development and growth now speaker we've been hearing a great deal of late about jobs specifically manufacturing jobs and ontario's growing economy and we all know that during the last recession many countries lost manufacturing jobs for example between 2007 and 2010 the united states lost 2.3 million manufacturing jobs we also know that between 2007 and 2009 real manufacturing output in us fell by 10.3 percent so in france and britain australia many country speaker including canna the the story was similar and with few exceptions the global manufacturing sector was hit hard by the recession everywhere yet we know speaker ontario's economy has been adding jobs steadily for the last years and that an overall job would be more than bounce back from this recession now speaker the leader of the opposition calls our targeted investments in ontario businesses corporate welfare and he vows to vows to cancel these programs so speaker my question is simple will the minister please tell us how our strategic investments in manufacturing has helped that thank you minister of education and minister of economic development and growth thanks very much speaker i want to begin by thanking the member for beach's historic for being such an extraordinary champion for the people that i know he's honored to represent he is right speaker he is 100 right province of ontario not unlike most other places around the world was hit hard by the global economic recession about 10 years ago in 2008 unfortunately speaker the alternative version of events or facts that the opposition particularly in recent weeks has put forward to the people is simply is simply not reflective of what took place because the opposition likes to pretend that though millions of manufacturing jobs were lost south of the border and around the world frankly that what happened here in ontario was unique speaker of course it wasn't but here's what's critically important for the people of this province to know and understand and i can assure you that they do our province has created more than 820 000 net new jobs over the last 10 years since the depths of that recession speaker the fact is also since that recession ontario manufacturing specifically employment has increased by 40 000 and in the last year alone we in this province have added more than 15 000 manufacturing job speaker that's more than many of our other thank you supplementary well thank you speaker and i want to thank the minister of course for that incredible answer and his unwavering support for the manufacturing sector in ontario it's important to hear about the successes of our workers and our initiatives that this government is taking in these sectors the manufacturing sector is diverse something that we on this side of the aisle know very well but i believe the opposition seems to forget from the auto sector in winsor oakville and beyond to advance manufacturing in wellan or the steel sector in sue saint marie and food processing speaker in my own writing of beaches east york this government has ensured that the manufacturing sector continues to grow and while instead the oppositions are trying to a trick ontario worker our trick ontario workers and investors and our competitors into believing that our people are failing we know speaker that since the minister has just explained we are actually adding manufacturing jobs across the province and we are leaders in manufacturing employment so speaker will the minister tell us more about what this government is doing to ensure our manufacturing sector thank you main strong mr my speaker i thank the member from beaches for the follow-up question i want to continue i want to continue with the story i was telling a second ago since that 2008 recession manufacturing jobs here in ontario have increased by almost 11 percent speaker we have delivered amongst the most competitive corporate income tax rate in canada which the united states is simply now catching up to speaker and because our government is a very strong partner for all manufacturers since 2004 speaker our government has announced over two billion dollars in support specifically for ontario manufacturers helping to create and retain over 100 000 jobs in every corner of ontario the workers of this province and the employers of this province speaker have been waiting to hear opposition parties that are prepared to stand up for them to fight for them and be on their side so far speaker they have not heard that from either opposition party but they have confidence that we will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with them thank you thank you speaker it's a pleasure to be here premier my questions to the premier premier residents in sardinia lampton are concerned that their drinking water is being put at risk by the development of 12 industrial turbines along the chatham kent sanctuary township border sanctuary township council has determined that the otter creek wind turbine development just outside the township border is a potential threat to the area aquifer that many residents in sanctuary township draw their water from sanctuary township is asking the protection of the private water well system in the municipality be included in the mandate of the tem sidenham region source water protection committee premier will you listen to the sanctuary township council and make sure these wells are protected from contamination the environment and climate change well thank you speaker and and and with all concerns around wind turbines and i understand the the passion with which those who live in the area have their concerns about wind turbines but i will say speaker that as with all wind turbine projects we take the concerns regarding the environment and human health exceptionally seriously so let me say at the beginning that that my ministry adheres to a very strict renewable energy approvals process and i know speaker that that you know the members opposite in the pc party have never approved a single renewable energy project ever that we speak of or never spoken in support of any of those here in this house our our government is committed to a cleaner greener future a reduction in the use of fossil fuels speaker answer but we do take these concerns very seriously i'll have more in a supplementary supplementary speaker my question is back to the premier again the construction of the otter creek turbine project will involve deep pile driving into the same black shale that left 20 water wells in the chatham kent area producing nothing but murky brown liquid and i know the minister knows about this the residents of st clare township are understandably concerned your government has the opportunity to do the right thing cancel this project before the aquifer that supplies the residents in st clare township with waters put at risk of contamination premier will your government do the right thing cancel the otter creek turbine project today well speaker i'll start by reiterating what i said at the very outside site that that our government takes these concerns the concerns of residents in this area very seriously and we take the environment and the impacts of these types of developments the impacts to human health very seriously as well and again you know speaker any pro any project as it goes forward any uh any renewable energy project that moves forward goes through a very rigorous evaluation process by my ministry to make sure that the health of the residents in the area the health of the environment is protected and this project as well will undergo and is undergoing those procedures as a speaker thank you new question the member from naggerfall thank you mr speaker my question is through the premier speaker we both know outrageous hydro bills are the norm here in Ontario to make matters worse since the liberals privatize hydro the hydro one co mail smith is making over six million dollars year will people in this province struggle to pay their hydro bill by groceries get prescription medicine and go to the dentist this liberal government continues to stand behind hydro one co a mail smith they think that his salary is reasonable i think that is a disgrace and so do the people of Ontario speaker when will the premier make the right decision and bring hydro one back into public hands where it belongs and put a stop put a stop to those ridiculous executive salaries thank you very much speaker i'm glad to speak uh i stand up and speak on behalf of the the minister of energy on this important issue i think member opposite speaker uh knows uh that uh that we have we're taking uh every step possible to ensure that the that the hydro rates uh the electricity rates are coming down our fire fair hydro plan has resulted in a 25 percent decrease on average for all uh for all residents across and businesses and farms across the province and in fact speaker and rural remote areas that that discount that reduction is in some instances around 50 percent these these reductions are taking place by because of the concerted effort that our government has made in making sure that uh that that we have a electric system that is uh that is affordable but also speaker system that is a clean that is a system that does not burns burns cold like the way it used to under the government under the previous government conservative and the ntp government but ensures that we have got a clean air a clean emission free uh system which is available to ontarians and an affordable price cute supplementary thank you mr speaker and back to the premier no ceo of hydro one should be paid six million dollars when people are struggling to pay their hydro bill the ntp has tried to put a cap on public sector ceo salaries in the past many times to legislation unfortunately this government along with the pcs voted against several pieces of legislation to cap public sector ceo salaries speaker we know pcs are more interested in helping millionaires instead of the people that have to choose between paying their hydro bill or eating when will the premier start caring about the people struggling to pay their bills in this province instead of supporting millionaires millionaires on bay street premier speaker the premier is the only leader uh in this province that has actually taken concrete steps to reduce electricity bills by 25 percent for ontarians small businesses and farmers ntps speaker hydro uh pamphlet is short on details but long on holo promises many of their promises rely on a vague yet to be determined expert panel uh to be convened sometime in the future that is not going to sell uh save ontarians a single penny on their bill speaker and they're basing their calculations on pie in the sky negotiations with the federal government speaker the realities reality is that these vague proposals don't make sense their biggest idea buying more than four billion dollars worth of hydro one shares will not take one cent of electricity bills it will take zero cents of electricity bill all it does is send answers to the stock market money that should be used for healthcare education infrastructure we don't agree with their plan thank you send the members model myself very much mr speaker my question is for the minister of labor minister we're joined by people across this province across canada and around the world in recognizing the day of mourning together we pause to remember those workers who have lost their lives or been injured on the job they're our family our friends and our neighbors we should honor their skill dedication and commitment by making sure all those who follow have safer workplaces minister i believe everyone in this house agrees that safety should be the number one priority in every workplace and then every on every job site one injury is one too many every ontarian should be able to go to work confident they will return home safe and sound at the end of the day minister can you please tell us what we are doing to improve improve workplace safety thank you minister thank you and thank you to the member for this very important question speaker the day of mourning is one of the most important days of the year for me as minister of labor but i think for all members of this house speaker and i hope members will take the opportunity to attend some of the services that will be held around the province speaker as minister of labor anybody that's being the minister of labor will know speaker the minister gets notified each and every time that a worker is killed on the job in this in this province speaker or is seriously injured it's the worst part of the job and it never gets easier but each time speaker it reminds me of the most important part of our jobs here making sure that above all else workers in this province are kept safe speaker we bought forward mandatory health and safety training for all workers including young workers speaker those that are new to the workplace strength and protections for temporary health workers through bill 148 and we're improving the support we give to those who are injured speaker by improving wsib benefits speaker as a result of this ontario has become one of the safest places in the entire world in which it can work speaker we should be proud of that progress speaker but not satisfied for one minute thank you supplementary thank you very much mr. speaker thank you minister this morning we all dawned yellow and black ribbons to commemorate the day of mourning i hope that we will all continue to wear them through the weekend the black represents mourning and the yellow represents hope for a safer and brighter future a future where there are no injuries and where everyone returns home safe at the end of every day this weekend people across this province will gather at ceremonies in their communities flags will be lowered to honor loved ones co-workers and friends we've lost no job is worth a life no job is worth an injury when it comes to health and safety we all have a role to play we all have a responsibility speaker i'll be joining the Ottawa district labour council of mincing massy park this weekend for their ceremony and through you to the minister can the minister tell us how he will be commemorating this weekend the day of mourning to minister speaker thank you and thank you to the member from Ottawa south speaker this weekend i'll be joining ontario families at local day of mourning ceremonies both in front of the wsib speaker and also at home in oakville i urge all members to do the same thing speaker this day of mourning ceremonies held around the provinces you can go online to get the information find where the ceremony is at and join those speaker in honoring all those who have been lost or injured on the job because speaker i know workplace safety is not an issue that should be divided along party lines i think we can all in this house agree that workplace deaths and injuries are tragic they're unacceptable and they're preventable speaker we should all work together to make workplace safety a personal priority to speak to your constituents your families and your friends if we work together speaker we can ensure our loved ones and our communities know their rights and they understand how to protect themselves if we all work together to change society's attitude and we should not rest speaker until safety is regarded as routine same as the seatbelt in a car speaker thank you new question to the member from bruce trailing south thank you very much your speaker my question is to the minister of agriculture food and rural affairs it's been almost five months since you said you would review and fix the interior wildlife damage compensation program yet today farmers across interior continue to face huge livestock losses because the program you put in place isn't working i've personally personally witnessed and written to you about the damage the predators have done to livestock of farmers like wane cawhill and my riding of bruce gray oh and sound you've heard from respected farm groups municipalities and individuals who wrote and spoke to you urge you to fix this mess minister why are you holding up farmers compensation thank you minister rural affairs i want to thank the uh my friend the honorable member first question this morning indeed uh what i had the opportunity to address the annual meeting the ontario federation of agriculture we made a commitment to look at the wildlife compensation program i had the opportunity as i do you know visiting the back concessions in ontario certainly in my riding of peter bro i've been in the fields i've seen the damage that's been done coyotes attacking calves and fishers attacking young lambs so we put a process in place to do the review we reached out to significantly the of a christian farmers of ontario national farmers union we've developed a consensus on a path forward and we're going to start the implementation process and part of that will be to train the evaluators and municipalities right across the province of ontario so they have a standard skill set where they're going into the fields to ascertain damage from predators supplementary thank you mr speaker back to the minister minister you have over years worth of evidence and complaints about the internal wildlife damage compensation program you know the program is failing and not achieving its intended goal one in five planes for predation kills is rejected by your staff 20 they don't visit the farm they're not doing groundwork and when farmers call the hotline to logical plate sadly some of them have been hung up on your inaction is inexcusable our party and specifically our egg critic for hauldam and norfolk pressed you for answers on the same question just last christmas five months later you're still holding up farmers compensation it's time for you minister to get down to hard work and fix this mess so i ask when will you give farmers their entitled compensation mr speaker contrary to the information that was just provided by the member there we want to make sure that we have all our evaluators to have a consistent standard skill set right across the province of ontario to go in the field as i have to look at the uh the remains the carcasses from predator um issues within rural ontario we've consulted widely with keith curry of off a the national farmers union it's interesting their view is slightly different to the narrative that may be provided by the member here today is they're very pleased mr speaker with the progress that we're being made we're looking at ways to actually increase compensation particularly for those animals that have uh unique genetics to make sure uh farmers are compensated there's a consensus building and they've indicated to us that we're on the right path to get this resolved there we go thank you new question the member from trotter dad for us thank you speaker speaker the francophone community in east trotto has been pushing for an equal secondary francophone for over a decade recently they learned that concierge scott air via mond has leased the former greenwood school from the trotter district school board because of the small footprint of the existing building with no adjacent schoolyard there's no green space for students parents are concerned the lack of equivalents with english schools that have many acres of green space and better facilities will result in ongoing assimilation of the next generation of francophone students what will you do minister to ensure that a fully equivalent francophone high school with dedicated green spaces for the students is delivered to this community thank you minister of education thank you mr speaker and mr speaker i want to thank the member opposite for this question our government is absolutely committed to supporting both french and english school boards across the province to build better schools and in fact since 2013 we have provided 208 million dollars in capital funding to cs vm on in this time cs vm on has completed 25 projects including eight new schools and 17 additions and retrofits in fact we recently announced this year we're providing 80 million dollars including more than 16 million to be invested in the vm on school board to support the creation of a new french high school in toronto this school will become the fourth public french language high school in toronto and it is uh it is absolutely a very important move for the community and fought by the school board thank you the house leader point of order point of order speaker thank you speaker i want to inform the house that the the announcement relating to justice peace will be posted later today it went up by mistake as opposed to just news released to announce an appointment of a regional senior uh justice well that's actually not a point of order i believe it was an answer to a question that could have been given later but i appreciate the fact that the minister attempted to find an answer the i've got somebody else have to recognize your time the minister transportation on a part of order thank you speaker today i'd like to welcome the family members of page madeline bus from cambridge who are sitting in the members gallery this morning charlotte bus steven bus graham bus and jack rattle welcome to queen's park good choice we have a deferred vote on the motion of the third reading of bill three and act respecting transparency of pay and employment calling the members this will be a five-minute bill all members please take your seats all members please take your seats on april the 25th 2018 mr flin moved third reading of bill three and act respecting transparency of pay and employment all those in favor of the motion please rise one at a time be recognized by the clerk mr flin mr flin an actor mr doger mr now doger mr mcman mr susan mr susan mr win mr win mr nighty harris mr jasper mr shurelly mr chan mr chan mr charles mr mccharles mr duke mr duke mr sandals mr sandals mr mathews mr grivell mr grivell mr baller mr baller mr baller mr long mr murridi mr murridi mr hunter mr hunter mr cotoh mr cotoh mr leal mr leal hablarat timber mr zimmer mr zimmer mr matt樂ные mr murrini mr murrini mr irrick Ms. Horvath. Mr. Vantah. Mr. Vantah. Ms. Fyfe. Ms. Fyfe. Mr. Tabbins. Mr. Tabbins. Mr. Miller Hamilton East Stony Creek. Mr. Miller Hamilton East Stony Creek. Mr. Natascha. Mr. Natascha. Ms. Armstrong. Ms. Armstrong. Ms. Taylor. Ms. Taylor. Ms. Forster. Ms. Forster. Mr. Hadfield. Mr. Hadfield. Mr. Gates. Mr. Gates. Ms. French. Ms. French. Ms. Campbell. Ms. Campbell. Although it's impossible to please rise one at a time, you're recognized by the court. Mr. Yacobusky. Mr. NASHKO. Mr. Miller-Parisame-Escoca. Ms. Scott. Ms. Scott. Mr. Barrett. Mr. Barrett. Mr. Walker. Mr. Walker. Mr. Bayley. Mr. Bayley. Mr. Ostraho. Mr. Ostraho. Mr. Mなるほど. Mr. M construction colleagues. Mr. Tim Foppinger and Mr. Zy Paper. Mr. oak sympanimates. Mr. Muitzenau. Mr. M balance. Mr. Da simplified bartender and two communication engineers and members of the 증ua home group. Mr. axe is 40 Weibnini and Mr.rice is wenn illumined. Mr. 1996. Mr. Scott.