 It is now time for oral questions, and I recognize the member for Nicobilt. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture faced strong opposition. Today, a large group of people are rallying against this move right here at Queen's Park, right now in the pouring rain. Let me be clear, Speaker. The NDP opposes this move and committed to reversing it if we form government. More than 2,700 healthcare professionals are registered with the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncturists of Ontario. These practitioners help Ontarians, help live healthier lives. They help them cope with pain without drugs or medication. Yet, it's clear that the Premier did not consult with any of them. The Premier planned to reduce the oversight of this important field of healthcare and undermine the profession and the status of their healthcare professional were wrong. Why did the Premier try to deregulate the traditional Chinese medicine in Acupuncture of Ontario? People deserve to know why this government tried to do this. To respond, Government House Speaker. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the question from the member opposite. As you know, Mr. Speaker, the goal of this was to eliminate the barriers that had existed since the inception of the legislation, I believe back in 2000, since the inception of the college, excuse me, back in 2006. In fact, Cantonese and Mandarin-speaking Canadians were virtually eliminated from being able to provide traditional Chinese medicine, something that they brought to this province. They were virtually barred from participating in it. So what we wanted to do, of course, was to eliminate those barriers. That is why, of course, last Thursday we sent the bill directly to committee. Prior to second reading, Schedule 5 will be removed from the bill and the college will be ordered to provide tests in both Mandarin and Cantonese so that we finally remove those barriers. Mr. Speaker, thank you. Please supplement your question. Speaker, this move was reckless. Heather Kenney, president of the traditional Chinese medicine, Ontario said, and I quote, there has been no consultation whatsoever on the part of the government that they were even considering this move. Dissolving the college and deregulating the traditional Chinese medicine would have hurt the patients of Ontario, the standards of care, and the reputation of all of those healthcare professionals. Make no move, Speaker. Small practitioners would have suffered as the insurance company would not cover treatment from a non-regulated healthcare professional. There was always options to improve the college. Like every other healthcare colleges in Ontario, the government has many tools to help them, many tools at their disposal. So why did the premier not consider helping the college rather than threatening to close them and remove this important oversight from traditional Chinese medicine? Government House Speaker? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, to be clear, section five of the bill will be removed. Again, it's why we sent it to committee in advance the second reading, Speaker. But let's be clear. What the real challenge was is that back in 2006, when this college was created, it virtually banned people who spoke Cantonese and Mandarin from practicing traditional Chinese medicine. And that was the case in the province of Ontario until we started to make these changes. That's why we are going to be removing those barriers. We're going to be re-inviting Chinese Canadians back into the medicine that they brought to this province, Mr. Speaker, and ordering the college to provide tests in both Cantonese and Mandarin. This will bring more people back into traditional Chinese medicine. It'll still remain a regulated professional, Mr. Speaker. But as I said, we will once and for all remove those barriers that have kept Chinese Canadians, those who speak Mandarin and Cantonese, out of the very same medicine that they brought to this province. Speaker, tens of thousands of Ontarians were engaged into this issue with over 37,000 signatures on one petition alone in just a few days. Ontarians deserve to know that the health care services that they receive are professionally delivered and regulated. But this government would have taken all of that away. The professional certificate, the oversight, the accountability that patients need to receive quality care. Ontarians deserve treatment from practitioners of acupuncture in traditional Chinese medicine that are fully regulated by a health care college, not simply check for sanitation like this government was planning to do. I'm glad that the Premier fixed his own mistakes. But now, will he apologize to the thousands of practitioners for the disrespect he has shown traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture professionals? Mr. Speaker, I think the disrespect that the member should be talking about is the fact that when this college was brought into place, those very sane people who brought traditional Chinese medicine to this province were virtually banned from participating within it, Mr. Speaker. That is what should be apologized for. The Liberals brought in a program that didn't allow Chinese-speaking Canadians to participate in their very own traditional Chinese medicine. We're fixing that once and for all. If anybody should apologize, it should be the opposition that supported a college that took away so many people from being able to participate, Mr. Speaker. We're fixing that. We're fixing that. And that is why we moved very quickly to ensure that Bill went to committee, will remove that section and will guarantee Chinese Canadians access to the very same traditional Chinese medicine that they brought to this province once and for all. Thank you. The next question, and this is Michael Bell. Thank you, Mr. President. My next question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ontarians all know that the home care system in this province is broken. It fails more people than it helped. Seniors and people living with disability want to live in their own home, longer, supported, respected. People want to go home from the hospital, but far too often they cannot access the home care services they need. After years of big cuts and privatization by this government and the Liberal government before them, the system does not work. When patients are referred to home care, the services should be available, but way too often they are not. Speaker, why hasn't this government fixed home care to be the public service Ontario need and deserve? Member for Eglinton, Lawrence. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We're committed to building healthier communities, strengthening our public health care system and ending hallway health care. We're committed to saying yes to home care, which is what we've been doing for many, many years now since we've been here in Queens Park. The health system response to COVID-19 has reinforced how important working as an integrated team of health care providers is, and that's why we passed the Connecting People Home and Community Care Act, or Bill 175, last year over opposition from the New Democratic Party, the opposition here, which set the groundwork for integrative responses home care and made sure that we can provide home care to all those people who would like to stay at home. As you'll recall, we removed service maximums in that legislation, and we are making investments, including an additional $548.5 million over three years invested in the home and community care sector, which will expand home care services, support additional staff, including personal support workers, and connecting patients to the services they need when and where they need them. Home care is a relationship between a care provider and somebody who needs care. There is not enough home care workers to deliver those important services. Vacancies in the home care leave providers scrambling to fill over one quarter of nursing jobs, as well as thousands and thousands of personal support workers' jobs. The pay barriers of Bill 124 makes it almost impossible to recruit and retain professionals and caregivers. The only idea that this government comes up with is to further privatize home care, which they did with Bill 175. We should be investing in public home care because these investments reduce overcrowding in our hospital, the long-care facility, and treats people where they want to be at home. Why would the government refuse to make much-needed investment in public, not for profit, home and community care services? Thank you, Speaker. The Del Ducat win liberals supported by the opposition and DP all the time have failed Ontarians when it comes to health care and certainly when it comes to home care. A report from 2015 from our Auditor General details the dire situation that the liberals left in regard to home care. So much so that the Auditor General said that an entirely new delivery system was needed and that is what our government did by passing the Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act, or Bill 175. Last year, during the pandemic, we were proceeding on this home and community care reformation, which is making great strides. The member opposite will know that we have embarked on the largest health care, health human resource initiative for recruiting, retaining more health care providers, PSWs, RPMs, and nurses in huge numbers. We've already hired over 12,700 health care providers during the pandemic, and we will continue to hire more to make sure that people get the care they need, where and when they need it. Speaker, in the north where I live, home care services are even more difficult to find because of the vast geography and the long distances that home care workers must travel between clients. Most home care workers are not paid for travel time. They have to absorb and often subsidize from their home pay the increase in the price of gas. Speaker, we know how to fix home care. This is Ontario. We know how to provide good quality, home and community care. We know how to raise the staffing level. We know how to close the accessibility gap. All we need is political will to get it done. Will the Premier support our motion today to make much-needed changes in investment in home and community care so that we commit to transform to a public, not-for-profit system that put care first? Thank you very much, Speaker. Our government is committed to our public health care system and to improving home care in that system, and that's why we've taken all the initiatives that I mentioned before. The investment of 548.5 million over three years in home and community care sector will expand home care services, support additional staff, including personal support workers, connect patients to the services they need. The funding would support an estimated 28,000 post-acute surgical patients to an estimated 21,000 patients with complex health conditions every year by providing 739,000 nursing visits, 157,000 nursing shift hours, 117,000 therapy visits including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech language pathology, 2,118,000 hours of personal support services, and 263,000 other types of home care visits. These are all important investments. We want to make sure that the home care is there for everyone who needs it, and we will deliver that to them. Good stuff. Next question. Member for Essex. Thank you very much, Speaker. Many questions to the Premier. The Premier's handpicked appointee to the Ottawa Police Services Board was fired last week after he helped occupy his own city. When Mr. Sueda was asked if he was there, he said, quote, I'm not sure what you're talking about. A day later he admitted it, quote, I did nothing wrong. The Premier still doesn't seem to know how Mr. Sueda, a long-time PC donor, made it on the board in the first place. He told the media last week, quote, I'll be able to get the answer on who recommended these and to tell you the truth, I didn't look into every single appointment. Speaker, who recommended Mr. Sueda and what qualifications did this guy have other than his long history as a PC donor? Thank you so much for your channel. So I think it's important to remind the member opposite just how the process works for police services boards, which of course are independent oversight of the individual police services boards. With the Ottawa Police Services Board, there are seven members, three of which of course are provincial appointees. Last week, those three provincial appointees made a determination after the city of Ottawa had said they were going in a new direction with their leadership and they have submitted their resignation. We've accepted it and we will work to ensure that those three positions are quickly filled to make sure that the Ottawa Police Service had the proper oversight that they continue to need. Thank you. The supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, the Premier won't explain why in December he reappointed one member of the board for another three-year term. Late January, the Ottawa Police briefed the board on the convoy's plan to occupy the city and Mr. Swayta skipped that briefing, instead making plans to actually attend the occupation, not once, but twice. Speaker, this kind of action undermines the Police Services Board. There were still protesters there this past weekend in Ottawa, but the civilian board to oversee the police is down to just three members with no provincial appointees. Speaker, will the Premier admit that he and his team didn't vet Mr. Swayta for the job and will he also admit that by appointing his PC buddy, he has damaged the reputation of the Ottawa Police Services Board? Thank you. Thank you, General. Respectfully, Speaker, the member opposite is wrong. There is a very thorough process for people who apply to be provincial appointees in any number of Ontario boards and agencies, including Police Services Board. They have to apply. They go through an interview process. They have to go through a thorough police record check, all of which happens every single time we appoint a provincial member to a Police Services Board, including in the City of Ottawa. That has happened, as I said. The City of Ottawa made a determination that they were going in a new direction with their Police Services Board. We accepted those resignations when they came forward, and we will go through another complete and thorough process to make sure that we get appropriate people sitting on the Ottawa Police Services Board. Next question, the member for Perth Wellington. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Government and Consumer Services. Ontario was faced with an immense problem at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Years of mismanagement and reckless spending in the wrong places by the Liberals left us exposed and vulnerable, particularly in our frontline sectors who lacked the proper equipment to keep themselves and their colleagues and the people they serve safe. Speaker, Ontario has no shortage of procurement firepower, and Ontarians are continuing accounting on our government to unleash it. Through your Speaker, I ask, what has the Minister of Government and Consumer Services done to strengthen our province and keep Ontarians safe? Good luck, Mr. Government and Consumer Services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the great member for Perth Wellington for the question. Over the course of our pandemic, our ministry has procured millions upon millions of pieces of PPE, Mr. Speaker, and I really think it's important to go back in time to March of 2020 when the first pandemic struck, the first wave struck our borders. Our Premier had to go into our warehouse, Mr. Speaker, and he legitimately saw rotting PPE, expired PPE. He stood before this entire province, Mr. Speaker, and he said, never again, never again will we be beholden to any other jurisdiction. This PPE that we had in our warehouse was not only expired, Mr. Speaker, but it was all purchased from foreign jurisdiction. Now I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, we have purchased over 282 million masks, over 270 million gloves, 4.7 million litres of hand sanitizer. I look forward to chatting a lot more about this in the supplemental, Mr. Speaker. Thank you again. Supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker, and I thank the minister for his answer. This government has unequivocally made the health and well-being of Ontarians from all walks of life and all sectors a top priority through our massive procurement of protective and critical care equipment. That being said, Speaker, there are many people out there who are asking a rather simple question. Where is all this PPE coming from? So through you, Speaker, I ask the minister the same. Could he please share more with Ontarians about where it is we are getting these millions and millions of pieces of equipment from? Great question. Minister of Government and Consumer Services. Thank you again to the member for the question and thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to respond and simply put, Mr. Speaker, most of our PPE is now coming from Ontario. Mr. Speaker, outstanding news, Mr. Speaker, of the 722 million pieces, to be exact that we have purchased, indicated earlier, 282 million masks all coming from Ontario. Recently had a purchase just before Christmas, 79 million masks from Brockville's 3M plant. 79 million N95s and additional 200 million cloth and other types of masks all procured locally within the province of Ontario, Mr. Speaker. And we stood up supply Ontario and delivered over 9 million Ontario-made N95s and nearly 16 million cloth masks for children and staff in our schools just at the start of this most recent wave. Mr. Speaker, we did all of this to ensure that we were keeping our Ontario people safe, making sure that our government can gradually ease our public health restrictions and have been able to do so because of the work that we have done, Mr. Speaker, and it is in fact the case that never again will we be beholden to any other jurisdiction, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the member for York South-Western. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. I'm a big supporter of the Toronto Community Benefits Network. It is formation had roots in my community and important agreements with Metrolinx were made, including meeting employment thresholds for underrepresented communities including Black, Indigenous and people of colour and women. The government recently announced removing equity hiring, targets, local procurements and community consultation from transit agreements. This, of course, was met with much outrage and the government has appeared to change its mind and will respect those closures. How can my community trust this government to keep its word on this agreement and what steps will be taken to ensure that these important initiatives are not only met but tracked and measured? Thank you, Speaker. It's an important issue the member opposite raised and so I want to be clear that the project agreements still require contractors to submit their own apprenticeship and workforce development plans, maintaining a 10% threshold for a diverse workforce, Speaker. I am the proud son of immigrants, immigrants who faced incredible difficulties in discrimination, sometimes at the hands of the members opposite, especially in this country, Speaker. Nobody takes diversity more seriously than this government. That is why we are looking beyond thresholds. Speaker, the Liberals, when it came to the Eglinton Crosstown, wanted a 10% threshold for a diverse workforce but only achieved 5% when you look at the data. Claiming a threshold is simply not good enough. You have to look at the system and make sure our workforce looks like a diverse community in our province and that's exactly what we're going to do. Thank you. I agree with the member that racism is real, absolutely. Back to my question to the Premier, public dollars channeled through metalling to build transit quite rightly, involve community benefit agreements. Even under the original community benefit agreement, I have concerned the initiatives were not being met. The equity hiring wall of 10% was sitting at less than half that target. In my community of York South-Western, the Mung Denys Community Equal Neighborhood Initiative recently wrote a letter stating their concerns that included and I quote, there has been no public engagement or information shared about Metrolinx Plan for community benefit agreement as part of its Eglinton Crosstown West Extension project. The community is losing faith in this government and needs to know exactly how this important initiatives are met and measured. Will the government give us more than words this morning? Speaker, more than words. Let's talk about more than words because that's a really ironic question coming from the opposition this morning. More than words means not saying no to creating more job opportunities for our workers. Not saying no to recognizing the diverse talent of Ontario speak. It's the NDP and the Liberals who said no to $11 billion in the construction of the Ontario line who said no to every single measure we have taken to build transit, to build a workforce, create 5,000 jobs during the construction of the Ontario line alone and contribute $11 billion back to local economic growth speaker. When will the NDP show more than words and vote in favour of building transit and diversity in this entire province? Stop the clock. Let's restart the clock. Next question, the member for Don Valley West. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Tomorrow is International Women's Day and members of the government will be waxing eloquent about the supports that they have put in place for women, whether supports are adequate or not. But we know that, what we know is that rhetoric aside, Mr. Speaker, this government has actually rolled back supports for women over the past four years. Labour laws that provided for transparency of pay equity in workplaces required employers to provide rational scheduling in many female-dominated workplaces, mandated sick days. All of those have been repealed by this government. Young women living in poverty and single moms were among the groups who benefited the very most from the free tuition program that was cancelled by this government. And we know that COVID has had a devastating effect on women and there has not been any targeted support for women getting back into the workplace. But, Speaker, we know that the single most important support that women and families need is affordable childcare, with more than $10 billion on the table from the federal government. Will the Ontario government use the opportunity of International Women's Day to finally, as the last jurisdiction in Canada to do so, announce a childcare agreement with the federal government? To reply, the Minister of Education. Well, thank you very much, Mr Speaker. We appreciate the member opposite's question. We do agree that affordable childcare could help enable greater labour market participation of women. We understand that the consequence of 15 years of rising costs has created a great burden on working parents in Ontario. It's why the Premier in his first act, in his first budget, introduced a tax credit to reduce costs on moms and dads in this province, enrich it during the pandemic and expanded support directly to parents through the Support for Parents Fund, $1.8 billion over $1,000 on average, per family. And in each and every example, when our government stood up to help working parents get through this pandemic, the opposition led by the Liberals opposed it. The Premier of this province is standing up to Justin Trudeau. What we're going to continue to do is get the best deal, a longer deal with more investments than yes, we can get to $10 a day for the people we serve. Supplementary. The Premier of this province is failing the children and the families of this province. The Premier has said publicly that the deal is so close and I trust the Premier will tell the people of Ontario whether they have even shared that detailed plan that the federal government was looking for. Has that even happened? But Speaker, even if the government announces an agreement tomorrow, it will mean that the delay caused by this government will have cost families an average of $25 a day. And that's a cost of $1,000 per child this year alone, Mr. Speaker. Ontario Liberals have committed that should we form government in June, we will get a childcare deal with the federal government as a first order of business and that the average family paying childcare costs would receive a retroactive payment of $2,750 per child. Speaker, if the government does announce an agreement tomorrow will the Premier commit to the same retroactive payments to compensate families for their delay? Minister of Education. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. We're absolutely committed to lending a good deal, a better deal for the people of Ontario. That would ensure 50% savings would be realized in the first year of that deal. The Premier of Ontario and the mandate of our government is to make sure in a constructive tone with the federal government that we can get a better deal with the federal government. I think we should all be aspirational in a negotiation to get the best possible deal for Ontario families. If we took the lesson from the Liberal Party, as you've said in the public record in this House, you would have taken the first deal available to Ontario. You would have left billions on the table and thousands of spaces that wouldn't have been funded. I just think that's irresponsible. We've taken the time to get this right to lend the best deal for Ontario families and the members to make the comments through the Chair. The next question. The Member for Carleton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This question is for the President of the Treasury Board. My constituents know supports like the Ontario Small Business Support Grant and the Support for Learners Program have been essential in our fight against COVID-19. However, they also know these programs have had a cost to the province. Members of my writing would like to know more about Ontario's public accounts and how the government's response to COVID-19 has impacted the province's finances. Can the President of the Treasury Board please tell the House about this government's financial reporting commitments during the pandemic? The President of the Treasury Board. Thank you very much, Speaker. And thank you to the Member from Carleton for that important question. The release of Ontario's public accounts builds on this government's commitment to transparency and accountability. Even amid the unprecedented financial planning challenges faced by governments worldwide as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, Mr. Speaker, Ontario was the first jurisdiction in Canada to release a fiscal plan that reflected the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public accounts have been audited by the Auditor General who provides an opinion on whether the financial position of this province is presented fairly. Mr. Speaker, I'm proud that for the fourth year in a row, the Auditor General has given our public accounts a clean audit opinion reinforcing this government's commitment to restoring transparency and accountability in the province's finances. Supplementary? Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for his answer. It's comforting to know that this government has delivered on the commitment to restore transparency and accountability to the province's finances after years of disastrous liberal mismanagement. Mr. Speaker, this government also committed to sparing no expense while protecting the businesses and families of Carleton and Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic. We would like to hear from the President of the House about the historic investments made by this government in the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Thank you. President Misericrae, thank you again to the Member for that excellent question. The 2021 public accounts outline 19.1 billion dollars in additional investments in and measurable results for the people of Ontario, including over $3 billion in urgent and unprecedented support to over 110,000 small businesses, over $3 billion in provincial investments to support 444 municipalities, 110 transit systems across the province, over $1.6 billion in investments for the 2020-21 school year to support the safe reopening of over 4,800 schools, $1.5 billion in investments to support Ontario's 627 long-term care homes. Mr. Speaker, the health and safety of Ontario is our number one priority, and we will continue to deliver on that commitment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Brampton is facing a health care crisis, and it's because our health care system is underfunded and neglected under 15 years of the Liberals. But after four years under the conservative government, instead of things getting better, they're getting worse. Our city of over 700,000 people still only has one chronically underfunded and overcrowded hospital. People are still being treated in the hallways, and for the past few months, our health care system has been at its lowest because our only urgent care centre has been shut down because of the concern of governments neglect. My question to the Premier is this. Will he admit that he chose to not act? He chose to neglect Brampton's health care crisis. He had four years to end our health care crisis. He did nothing, and he failed Brampton. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member opposite for the question. I want to start by thanking the President of the Treasury Board, the member for Brampton South and the member for Brampton West for all of their advocacy for Brampton. They're really great advocates for the community. And of course, our government is the government that is making investments in Brampton health care after 15 years of the Liberals propped up by the opposition, making no investments in better health care in Brampton and ignoring them, frankly. It is this government that is saying yes to a new hospital that will provide over 250 new beds and include a 24-7 emergency department. As part of our comprehensive Keeping Ontarians safe plan, William Osir also received more than 17 million to fund additional 87 net new acute medical surgical beds to alleviate surge pressures. Let me be clear. It is this government that is funding Brampton hospitals. We will continue to do so. We will make sure that people who live in Brampton get the health care that they deserve. Thank you, Speaker. Back to the Premier. The concern of government can see whatever they want, but this is the reality. The concern of government had four years to end our health care crisis. And when you talk to people in Brampton, they'll tell you that things are getting worse. They're not getting better. People are genuinely afraid to go to our city's only hospital because they don't want to be treated in the hallway or face hours of wait. So many people have had their medical procedures canceled or delayed and we have seen across the board. We have seen that people are struggling because our only urgent care center has been shut down for months. So will the Premier admit? Will he finally admit that he failed to end Brampton's health care crisis and he failed Brampton? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government has made unprecedented investments in health care and support for the health of all Ontarians through the pandemic, including $16 billion in COVID-19 investments, $5 billion specifically in hospitals. That includes $1.8 billion we dedicated to surgical backlogs of that $300 million and another $200 million in last fall to clear the surgical backlogs. We're working very hard to do that with Ontario Health and we're making great strides in that regard with many people getting those things scheduled right now. The opposition just opposes, but we are making tons of investments. I can list some of them for you, including in diagnostic imaging recovery, providing $86.1 million in funding supports for hospitals to extend OR hours into evenings and weekends and catch up on surgeries, providing $69.9 million for MRI and CT imaging, adding 107,000 additional MRI hours and 167,000 additional CT hours to the system on top of already over 500,000 hours and 550,000 hours. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is for the Premier. In 2020, the Toronto Star Company, Tor Star, which owns about 70 papers, was sold for $52 million and it seemed like they were on their way to going out of business. So, in step, this PC government to grant the Toronto Star our province's first online gambling license for a market that could be worth more than a $500 million in revenue and also a market that is going to decrease government revenues in the hundreds of millions. The owners of the Toronto Star have said this venture will be used to fund their struggling journalism business, which focuses on pushing left-wing, high-tax, big government journalism they disguise by calling social justice and progressive. Does this government think it is ethical and healthy for journalism integrity and a free press that the largest left-wing newspaper distributor in the country fund its operations through the revenue generated by online gambling based on a license provided by one of the very governments they're supposed to write about? Thank you. The parliamentary assistant, member for Brantford Branch. Thank you, Speaker. I really appreciate the question on eye gaming from the member from Cambridge and indeed the Province of Ontario is moving forward on opening up an eye gaming framework and I would like to thank my predecessor now the Associate Minister of Transportation. We are very excited to be bringing in somewhere between a billion to two billion dollars into the gross domestic product of the Province of Ontario without job losses and so we are very very excited about this looking forward to be able to say more about it in the follow-up. Thank you. Online gambling industry relies heavily for profits on those with addictions or those who can least afford to gamble poor and low-income Ontarians. The kind of people the Toronto Star pretends in the writing to stand up for but then publishes a front page with social media messages wishing unvaccinated Canadians dead or the kind of writing that seeks to destroy people's reputations by labeling them with woke leftist labels. Speaker we know that last year the member for Chatham Kent-Lamington gave this government an A minus grade calling their performance excellent. I wonder what grade does this government give itself in the rollout of an online gambling market in Ontario? With this government issuing the first such license to operate an online casino to the Toronto Star and a plus a B a C a passing grade let us know. Member for Brantford branch. No thank you speaker and again I can't say enough good things about the plans that we have going forward to have a responsible eye gaming framework in the Province of Ontario and indeed for land-based casinos we've had the best responsible gaming platform in the world for many many years and it's been so gratifying to see the work being done with respond the responsible gaming council so that we see equal and even better. So right now there's at least a billion dollars of grey market black market gaming that happens in the Province of Ontario with absolutely zero responsible gaming being put in place. To bring that into a regulated framework so that the Ontarians can be kept safe and that they're going to have a very good experience is very good to see. Thank you again for the question. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker my question today is for the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. Minister studies have shown that opiate related deaths have surged during the pandemic by as much as 79 percent during the first two waves of COVID-19 with north northern regions of the province seeing three times the number of deaths. We know that thousands of individuals have lost their lives due to the ongoing opiate crisis and poly substance crisis seen in our province. Constituents in my community of Oakville North Burlington have been worried about the impacts of COVID-19 on their mental health and especially around substance use increasing in their communities and across Ontario. We know the problem extends far beyond the GTA. Minister could you explain to the members of the Legislature what our government is doing to address substance use across the province. Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member from Oakville North Burlington for that excellent question. Mr. Speaker addictions and substance use is something I have a very deep and personal connection to having worked in the sector for a decade prior to becoming becoming its minister. After years of previous government saying no to expanding addictions treatment in the province our government has said yes by recently announcing an historic 90 million dollar investment through the province's new addictions recovery fund that is immediately expanding addiction treatment services across the province and adding almost 400 new addictions treatment beds in the system. This is truly an historic investment Mr. Speaker in addiction treatment in the province of Ontario and it will help thousands of Ontarians access to supports they need. After so many years of previous governments neglecting our mental health and addiction system our government is taking real action and ensuring all Ontarians are fully supported. I'd like to thank the Minister for his response. I know that constituents in my riding will be pleased to hear this news and I know that our government is continuing to take addiction overdose and ongoing opioid crisis seriously. It is clear that our government is taking real and meaningful action to ensure the people of this province have access to the addiction supports they expect and deserve. Minister we know that more still needs to be done to protect and support Ontarians living with addiction challenges and as the Minister has mentioned in this house before we know that the mental health impacts of the pandemic will exist beyond COVID-19 itself. Minister what other actions is the government taking to ensure Ontarians have access to high quality addiction care when and where they need it. The new addictions recovery fund is truly the first of its kind in Ontario. It's the first time a government in this province has taken the important step to build a continuum of care in communities across the province including Northern, Indigenous and rural communities. On Friday I was in Sudbury to announce 2.5 million dollars for 15 new treatment beds that will help hundreds of Ontarians in accessing the support they need. This is just one of many investments we're making across the province to address the surge in demand for addiction services. In addition to adding almost 400 new beds the new addiction recovery fund is adding six new youth wellness hubs supporting new Indigenous-led land-based healing services and funding for new police partnered mobile crisis teams. Our government is doing whatever it takes to finally build a connected mental health and addiction system that meets the unique needs of all Ontarians no matter where they are in the province. Thank you. Next question, the member for Sudbury. Thank you very much Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Speaker Ontario is already dealing with the high cost of living. We have higher food costs, higher rent, higher hydro rates and more. Like in situans in Sudbury we're dealing with another rising cost, gas prices. Peter says that high gas prices are eroding his pension. Leanne and Nancy wrote to my office about having to choose between getting gas or getting groceries. Stacey can barely afford to get to work every day and Christina is a single mom who has had to take on a second job just to make ends meet. The North has always seen higher gas prices than southern Ontario but recently the difference between astronomical. There is always a 10 cent difference between Sudbury and gas stations are only 45 minutes away and that number jumps to 20 cents or more the further south that you drive. That's gas gouging speaker. For years to consider governments that they bring gas prices down and the previous Liberal Minister of Energy also promised to fix this issue but nothing was ever done. When will the government fire the Ontario Energy Board to regulate the retail price and hold still market of petroleum products on Ontario protecting gyros from being gouged at the pump? Thank you. Member for Parliamentary Assistant. Thank you. Thank you Speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question but I must admit I cannot believe what I'm hearing coming out of the mouth of the opposition. The opposition is trying to pretend that they care about the affordability for Ontarians. We know they are advocating for carbon taxes. When elected our government took immediate action to make life more affordable for Ontarians by scrapping the cap and trade which lowered gas by 4.3 cents a leader. We continue to fight for Ontarians to scrap the federal carbon tax to which the NDP is quiet. Now what's the NDP done? Number one they've been supporting the carbon tax which penalizes everyday work in Ontarians and Canadians. Number two they are against pipelines to get ethical safe oil delivered within our country and number three when the NDP was previously in power they increased the Ontario's excise tax and it went up by 15% from 11.3 to 13 cents a leader. I'll have more to say in the supplementary. Thank you. The minister wants to talk about 4 cents gas today and Sudbury is over a buck 80. Government side will come to order. Allow the member for Sudbury to ask his question so I have to be able to hear him. Please start the call. Apologize the member for Sudbury. Thank you Speaker they're frustrated because they haven't done anything. In Sudbury in the north we don't have access to same kind of transit opportunities because our geography is vast. Our winters are tough. Most of us need our vehicles just to get to work. It's the only option. Shannon and her family live outside of Sudbury. Both her and her husband commute to work every day and are forced to budget close to a thousand dollars a month for gas. If most of your paycheck goes towards gas, how do you survive? Life has become unaffordable. Gas prices shouldn't be another burden to Ontarians. It shouldn't keep people like Shannon from their job. It shouldn't keep people like William from going to camp to visit their family. It shouldn't be a hardship for Mitch to drive his daughter to daycare in the morning. Speaker, gas gouging can end by implementing predictable and consistent retail pricing of petroleum products so that we don't see the steep fluctuation that's currently happening. When will the conservatives implement this plan? Thank you to the member opposite but again I want to look at the NDP track record and where they stand. The member from Ottawa Center is in favor of a tax increase in carbon tax of 35 cents a liter. 35 cents a liter. That would make it so painful for everyday residents to drive to soccer practices, to have business here in the province. We have stood up to the federal government's carbon tax. I would love the opposition to join us against them. Now with respect to regulation that you've talked about, there are a few provinces in this country that have regulation. Newfoundland for example, where it's currently $1.92 per liter. 10 cents more expensive than Ontario. In NDP led British Columbia, the price is $1.91 per liter. So my question to you is will you join us and fight the federal government on this carbon tax? If the helpers continue I'm going to start calling you out by name, writing or ministerial title. Start the clock. Member for Ottawa Center. Thank you very much speaker. My question is for the premier. We learned this morning the government has moved to strike schedule five from bill 88 and that was good news for the people rallying outside but they're nervous. Why? Because they don't trust the premier. They know the college protects patients. They know that the college of traditional Chinese medicine elevated from a practice to a profession and they also know the premier wanted to eliminate all that. Treaty practitioners more like tattoo artists than the healers that they are. The community knows that they can't trust this government because they were willing to make this change without any consultation and they might very well do that again. So speaker through you to the premier. Who whispered in the premier's ear and told him this was a good idea to respond to government house leader. But Mr. Speaker you know what the people out on the lawn know they know that for over 12 years because of liberal legislation that set up this college. Chinese speaking Canadians were forbidden virtually from participating in the very medicine that they brought to this to this province Mr. Speaker. So what we're doing is fixing the liberal mistake speaker so that more people can participate in traditional Chinese medicine Mr. Speaker. So we're going to fix the college to ensure that that happens. We are as the member acknowledges question we are eliminating schedule five. That is why we took the step of moving it to committee before second reading speaker. But ultimately we are going to fix the problems that the liberals set in. I don't know why they did it Mr. Speaker. Frankly I don't know who would bring forward legislation back in 2006 that took so many people out of out of the traditional medicine that they were practicing. Thank you. Mark and you know bill the member for Richmond Hill and the member for Don Valley North were of course on top of this working with us and ultimately we're going to have the best solution in place. Well thank you Speaker. And you know thanks for the house leader to bring it up. You know the premier said making this change was all about language and people as a barrier to practice. But the premier and the cabinet members know that this change could have easily been done in regulation in five minutes at the cabinet table. And you could have done it in five minutes solve the problem that he said he was trying to solve instead without any consultation or any forewarning. The premier is going to eliminate the college. It took the community standing up and telling the premier that he was wrong for the government to backtrack. That's the only reason that that happened. Otherwise we'd still be going ahead with schedule five. The community is right not to trust the premier or this government. The question really is if making this change wasn't going to benefit patients or the profession of traditional Chinese medicine. Just exactly who was it going to benefit. So again speakers for you who whispered in the premier's ear that this was a good idea. And will the government commit today to strengthening the college of traditional Chinese medicine and never threatening it again. Government House Leader. Speaker. So let's let's look at the question that the member just asked. He said that it could have take five minutes at the cabinet table to make that change. So from 2006 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 and 18. The Liberals could not five five minutes to allow Chinese House will come to order. I had to cut off the government House Leader because I couldn't hear what he was saying. Start the clock. The next question. The member for Toronto St. Paul's. Speaker. My question is for the premier. The last two years have been absolutely devastating for small businesses across Ontario and also in my community of St. Paul's. This last lockdown was the breaking point for many. That was the case for Karina, a wedding planner in our community who had four winter weddings canceled income that would have helped her get through some of the hardest bumps until business picked up again. Despite receiving the first two rounds of Ontario small business support grants after many many many emails and hours and calls to our office. She was not eligible for the Ontario small business relief grant and got no explanation as to why. Speaker. My question is to the premier. After two years of these programs being flagged with problems that left small business to shutter. How is it that this government still hasn't gotten this right to support Ontario entrepreneurs like Karina? Why is there no appeals process to support small business owners who need help if their grants applications have been denied? So she's a small business and they take production. Thank you, Speaker. I do want to thank the member from Toronto St. Paul's for her question. Speaker. It was this premier and this government that recognized that small businesses have required immediate support so they could continue serving their communities and employing people across our province. It was our goal to get money to businesses quickly. So through the new COVID-19 small business relief grant, we're providing $10,000 for eligible businesses. Speaker, this bill on the nearly $3 billion that we provided last year through the Ontario small business program to over 110,000 businesses across the province. Speaker, I'd like to give you our updated numbers. From March 4th, we have currently given out over 9,800 applicants, a total amounting over $98 million with another 8,500 applicants that are currently in progress. Thank you, Speaker. Supplementary question. Speaker, and back to the premier. Corina's situation is not a solo situation. She's joined by many hundreds of businesses in Little Jamaica. She's joined by many of our local BIAs and other businesses that cannot access funding from this government. For some, they've applied and they're told that they received that they'd received confirmation that never comes. It's impossible to follow up when you don't know if there's a status on your application. Others have been waiting well over a month and when calling to inquire, they're simply told to keep waiting. And Speaker, this is in a climate where this government, the Conservative government gave out over $200 million to businesses that were ineligible, some weren't even in Ontario. The Ontario small business relief grant program is closing this Friday when evidently it hasn't worked for the people it was supposed to work for by no fault of their own, of course, all systems. My question is to the Premier, given this reality, will he extend the deadline of this program to ensure that every business owner eligible to receive support is able to? Thank you. Well, thank you, Speaker. I'd like to remind the member opposite that it was this government that provided $300 million to help offset fixed costs, including property taxes, hydro, natural gas bills for businesses impacted by public health measures. It provided a one-time grant of $1,000 for eligible businesses for PPE. But sometimes it becomes unfortunately very comical. Let me remind the member opposite. They voted against doubling the employer health tax exemption that allowed 30,000 businesses' employers to no longer pay the payroll tax. They voted against reducing the business education tax by $450 million. They voted against $680 million in broadband infrastructure. They continue to vote against. But one thing I will say, Speaker, I do want to thank the member's opposite for supporting Bill 84 because that once again, I had to interrupt the minister because I could not hear what she was saying, even with the earpiece, because of the volume of the clapping and the show. The next question, Member Forglock. Good morning, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. People living on the Ontario Disability Support Program live well below the poverty line. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the province is over $1,000. The average rent for an apartment in Toronto is over $1,800, yet the basic needs and shelter allowance for ODSP is just $1,169. An amount that has not kept up with the rising levels of inflation or has not been increased since the plan 3% increase was cut in half in 2018. People with disabilities are hurting Speaker, and it's not right. So Speaker, will the Premier double the rates for ODSP in the spring budget? To reply, the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. Thank you very much to the member opposite for the question. To be clear, our government raised ODSP and OW rates when we took office. Knowing the challenges posed by the pandemic, we invested more than $1 billion in social services relief and expanded access to temporary emergency assistance for those in financial crisis. OW and ODSP clients continue to have access to the government's discretionary benefit program to assist with exceptional expenses. These investments back up our transformation of social assistance to build a more responsive, paid person centered, effective and efficient system that will get people back to work and help the province recover from the COVID-19 crisis. Supplementary Speaker, let's be clear. According to the financial accountability officer, the government underspent on social services by $1.2 billion. People on ODSP are forced to live on $1,100. You ask anywhere in Ontario where you can survive on that kind of money. That's exactly why over 50% of the people on social assistance survey show go days without eating. Speaker, this is the province of Ontario. People on social assistance can't afford rent. They can't afford food. And we can do better because we are better speaker. So I ask the government through you, Speaker, will they increase ODSP rates above the low income cutoff line in the spring budget? Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you once again for the member opposite for that important question. To be clear and to clarify the issue with the underfunding as you term it, I say that this is an application based program. It requires people to apply. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a lot of people using resources from the federal government and the applications did not come in the same amount. But to be clear, MCCSS's budget saw an increase in the third quarter to over $18.1 billion as a result of $9 million increase as part of the COVID-19 response fall preparedness plan. And our government spends $8.3 billion roughly annually on our programs for ODSP. And in addition to that, we have a microcredential strategy that I'm working with the Ministry of Labor and Training Skills Development, as well as the mental health aspect with the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, as well as working with the Minister of Education for the $1 billion to build thousands of new Thank you very much. Next question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. In Niagara, one of the most concerning things we are seeing is housing costs. It's a full blown crisis. The median price for home in Niagara has increased by 33% in four years. And a recent report shows housing costs are set to rise another 14% next year. Under this government's watch, young working class Ontarians don't have a chance of owning a home in Niagara. I hear it from young people in my community. They tell me they can't picture owning a home in the future. The government's own task force showed that the housing price average in Ontario has increased from 329,000 to nearly a million. A 180% increase. While at the same time, Speaker, question, wage has only increased 38%. This government said hydro rates would go down by 12%. They actually gone up five. Speaker, again, my question to the Premier. After four years of the cost of living skyrocketing, four years of your broken promise, how can young families and seniors afford to live in this province of Ontario? Thank you, Speaker. The province has the shortage of housing. And we've since we've elected, we've under the leadership of Premier Ford, we are saying yes to building more homes and yes to expanding more long term care and yes to building more transit. We've been using MZO's have helped accelerate the creation of over 4,000 long term care beds, 30,000 new or renovated long term care beds. And also MZO helps construction of over 54,000 housing units and well over 600 supportive housing units. MZO's have helped create more than 50,000 new jobs by getting shovels in the ground sooner. Speaker, in 2021, two years after more homes and more choice was announced, Ontario had over 100,000 housing starts. The highest level of housing starts since 1987. The highest number of the level of rental starts in 30 years since 1991. This government has said yes to more housing units. And that side has said no. Question period for this morning. Remember for this morning, the Minister of Health and Human Services of Ontario, he has a point of order that he wishes to raise. Yes, Speaker, I'd like to correct my record. And this morning in my member statement, I said that what is happening in the Ukraine is a horror. What I meant to say is what is happening in Ukraine is a horror. It's an important distinction. I got it right earlier in my statement. And I want to thank the Minister for Northern Development for Northern Development of Minds for pointing that out to me this morning. And thank you, Speaker. So stands in recess until 1pm.