 It is now time for a question period. The member from Mipissing. My question is for the Premier. Premier, the privacy commissioner yesterday said the destruction of emails by senior officials within the Premier's office and Minister of Energy was the most serious case she'd investigated in her 15-year career. In her conclusion she notes, and I quote, ignorance is no excuse. Transparency of government activities reflected in their records is essential to freedom and liberty, quote. She also noted that government information has been removed and put on external USB drives. Speaker, it's been stolen from the legislature. Premier, the law has been broken and we've requested today that the OPP launch an investigation. Will you agree with us and instruct your attorney general to launch a police investigation into the deletion of emails by senior liberal staffers? Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And it is the member's office is prerogative to ask whatever he chooses, Mr. Speaker. I have said that I am very grateful that Dr. Kavukian has written her report, Mr. Speaker. We're examining her findings. And I agree with her conclusions, Mr. Speaker. That this should not have happened. I am committed. I have ordered. I have committed to making changes to ensure that all staff are called. The member from Halton, come to order. The member from Halton, come to order. The member from Leeds, Grenville, come to order. And the member from Prince Edward, at least, he's come to order. The member from Durham, come to order. Who's next? Finish, please. Mr. Speaker, and it's not my want to respond to heckling. But the reality is that the heckling from across the floor that, you know, this is no big deal. It is a big deal, Mr. Speaker. It's a very serious deal. And that is why we have taken action, Mr. Speaker. I agree with the conclusions of the Privacy Commissioner. Thank you. Thank you, Premier. The Privacy Commissioner relayed shocking details on the activities of Craig MacLennan, the former Chief of Staff at the Energy Ministry, and David Livingston, the former Chief of Staff to former Premier McGinty. Livingston asked the Secretary of Cabinet in January how to, quote, wipe clean the hard drives in the Premier's office, quote. She said, quote, during our meeting with Livingston, we learned that his information practices were very similar to those of MacLennan. He also, he also deleted his emails daily. There was a systematic liberal attempt to thwart the democratic and legal rights of members of this legislature and to make sure those documents never saw the light of day. Premier, there are grounds for a police investigation here. Will you join us and have your Attorney General request a formal police investigation into this crime? Thank you, Premier. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Since I have been in this role, there has been a systematic and intentional attempt to provide every piece of information that is available, that is asked for, and that is what we've been doing, Mr. Speaker. We have trained staff. We have put in place a clear directive that all the rules will be followed, that all the information will be made available, Mr. Speaker. I agree with Dr. Kevukian's conclusions. This should not have happened. We are going to make changes to make sure, to make sure that it can't happen again, Mr. Speaker. And in the interim, we have already taken actions to make sure that everyone is retaining the information that they need to, and beyond that, Mr. Speaker, making sure that information that has been asked for that is relevant to the discussion at the Justice Committee has been provided to the tune of 130,000 documents, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Final supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. You say you've put in a systematic and intentional system in place, but you are personally responsible for leading and continuing a culture of secrecy that puts Liberal Party interests ahead of those in Ontarians. You talk about training your staff in retention, but let's talk about using non-FOI-able g-mails. We've provided evidence in this House that you and your transition team leader have used private g-mail accounts to conduct government business in a deliberate attempt to subvert freedom of information laws. The privacy commissioner says the law has been broken here. She said, quote, there was a culture of avoiding the creation of written documentation on the gas plant issue, and you're still carrying that on by using secret g-mail accounts. Premier, will you stand here today and join our party in asking for a police investigation into this? Premier, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The OPP are independent, and they will do what they deem best. Mr. Speaker, the member office... Mr. Speaker, they are not secret because the member opposite has them. He has access to them. We have provided access to them. At every turn, at every question, we have provided the information that the member's opposite have asked for. Mr. Speaker, that's why we... The member from Oxford, thank you. Finish, please. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's why we broadened the mandate. We wanted the mandate of the Justice Committee to be broadened so that all of the questions could be asked, so that people could be brought before the committee, and all of that investigation that the committee wanted to do could take place. We have provided 130,000 documents, 30,000 from my office, Mr. Speaker. We have put training in place. We are doing everything in our power to ensure that all the rules are followed and all the information is available, including the information that the member opposite is referring to, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. New question. The member from Nepean, Carlton. Yesterday, we learned that the most senior officials in the Premier's office copied government emails and documents related to the Gas Plant scandal onto personal drives and then ordered that that information and those documents and that evidence be destroyed. I'm going to read Section 122 of the Criminal Code of Canada of the Breach Trust. Every official who in connection with the duties of his office commits fraud or breach of trust is guilty of an indictable offense and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years whether or not the fraud or breach of trust would be an offense if it were committed in relation to a private person. Premier, you have no choice other than to call in the OPP to investigate Dalton McGinty's former office and your office for this crime. Will you do it? Let's ask the member of Oxford how's your hand? Is it okay? Take it. Premier? Very much, Mr. Speaker. As I've said, the OPP is an independent body and they will do what they deem in the best interest of the people of Ontario to do. I am, I'm very pleased that Dr. Kavukian has issued this report, Mr. Speaker. I agree with her conclusions. I agree, Mr. Speaker, that there need to be changes made and I agree, Mr. Speaker, that there needs to be action taken some of which we have already begun, Mr. Speaker, but we will continue to work with the privacy commissioner to make sure that the changes that are necessary are made so that this won't happen again. I agree it shouldn't have happened. Which is why, Mr. Speaker, from the day that I've been in this office, I have worked to open up this process to make sure that all of the information that was asked for will be available. The reason that the members opposite are asking these questions, Mr. Speaker, one of the reasons is that they have the information that we have provided because that is the right thing to do, Mr. Speaker. So, can I mention it? I find this troubling. The minister, the premier says we are going to do better, we need to do better in the future and they keep saying that they said that about de-health. They said that about orange. What about orange for a moment? You say that the OPP should do what's in the best interest of the problem. Minister of Health who actually called the OPP in to investigate orange. Why don't you speak to your deputy premier minister, why don't you talk about the officials in your government who copy data on to personal drives and then destroy the evidence. That's why the OPP needs to be called in right now. That is why section 341 of the criminal code applies here. Everyone who for a fraudulent purpose takes, obtains, removes or conceals anything is guilty of an indictable offence and liable for imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years. Mr. Speaker, would they do it in orange because it didn't affect them directly? Stop the clock please. I am going to make a comment about that last statement that I believe that those kinds of, that kind of language is, I'm bothered by it and I would ask the member to guard her questions very carefully and I will be listening carefully to see that it's not done again. Premier? Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I will just say again that we have done absolutely everything possible to make sure that every piece of information, every question that has been asked, every person who has been asked to come, that all of that has been made available to the members opposite Mr. Speaker and to the public because I have said repeatedly that what happened in terms of the relocation of the gas plants should not have happened. There should have been a better process up front and to the issue of making changes so that none of this would happen again, we have already begun that process. So the Privacy Commissioner acknowledges that we have done training Mr. Speaker we have made it clear to staff what the rules are. We will continue to do that and as more questions asked Mr. Speaker we will continue as we began and that is to provide the information that is asked for by the committee and by the members opposite. Speaker they have breached the public archives law that they put in place they have breached section 122 of the criminal code, they have breached section 341 of the criminal code, they called in the OPP when it was convenient on orange why won't they call in the white caller crime unit of the OPP here today the Kathleen Wynn Kathleen Wynn at Gmail account is in suspect is it because they have been trading information that they don't want the public to see so they continue to skirt out the white request Mr. Speaker this is very serious if the premier cannot stand in her place today and look at the public in Ontario and tell them that she will do what is right for them then we are in trouble as a democracy in this province they have probably broken the law more than once their information the privacy commissioner said as much yesterday I asked her once again on behalf of the residents of this province and the people of this province will she stand in her place calling the white caller crime unit of the OPP thank you thank you Premier thank you very much Mr. Speaker it is a first principle of mine that I will follow the law I will follow the rules and I will make sure that everyone Mr. Speaker since I have been in elected office before I was in this house when I was a school trustee I have followed the rules Mr. Speaker I have taken advice at every turn when I came into this office I opened up this process of the relocation of the gas plants so that all of the questions could be in place in our office Mr. Speaker we have turned over documents we will continue to ask and to the questions that are asked of us Mr. Speaker your question the member from Toronto Danforth thank you Speaker to the Premier it was last November that New Democrats raised the fact that documents related to so called project vapor have gone missing from the Premier's office when this new Premier was sworn in did she ask why these emails were missing thank you Mr. Speaker what I did when I came into this office is I made sure that we put training in place that we made it clear to everyone who worked in the Premier's office and across government understood about the retention of information and that the rules were followed that's what I did when I came into this office Mr. Speaker in her first week on the job here in the legislature I asked the Premier where these missing emails were and what was being done to find them the Premier could have stood in her place and said that I have serious concerns she could have taken action instead she bounced the question to the House leader if the Premier was genuinely concerned about liberal staffers deleting emails and breaking the law why didn't she do anything to help find them thank you very much Mr. Speaker I think the member opposite knows that at that point we were very much engaged in how the committees were going to be structured exactly what the process was going to be because we were committed to opening up the process and making sure that all of the questions got answered and that there was a process in place for that kind of openness to take place I was taking action in our office we made sure that all the rules were followed from the day that I came in and we have provided information as it has been asked for 130,000 documents from our office and we will continue to behave in that manner Mr. Speaker the fact is the Premier had a chance to offer some change she could have said this deletion of emails is wrong this wiping out of records is wrong this is possibly illegal and I'm not going to stand for it she could have asked the tough questions of the staff of the bureaucrats but she offered more of the same if the Premier thought the Liberal government shouldn't have deleted those emails why didn't she come clean clean at the time and simply say this is wrong thank you very much Mr. Speaker I think my actions speak very clearly by making it clear that we were going to retain information as required that all the rules were going to be followed Mr. Speaker that's exactly I think in response to the members question that's what we did we made it clear to staff we put training in place we made it very clear that we were going to be following every rule and making sure that all information that needed to be retained was retained Mr. Speaker I agree with the conclusions of the privacy commissioner we will continue to work with her to make sure that further changes that are necessary are made Mr. Speaker to the Premier again yesterday Ontario's information privacy commissioner confirmed what New Democrats have been saying for a long time that the Liberals were destroying information about the gas plants it's clear that we need to do more to get answers that people deserve will the Premier agree to a full public inquiry to get to the bottom of this so Mr. Speaker I know that the House Leader will want to speak to supplementary but I just want to be clear we have as I have said I agree with the conclusions of the privacy commissioner I agree that this shouldn't have happened I agree Mr. Speaker that there may be further changes that need to be made but just to be again crystal clear we have already begun making changes we began the day that I came into office we've made it clear to staff in the Premier's office and across government that information that is to be retained is retained and that any questions that need to be answered in terms of the relocation of the gas plants that we provide that relevant information that's what we've been doing that's how we began that's how we will continue Mr. Speaker Thank you supplementary Speaker to the Premier the Justice Committee is doing important work all members continue to call witnesses who were not involved with the cancellation of the gas plants and can't tell us how much of the people's money the Liberal Government wasted for its own political gain will the Premier do the right thing and call an independent public inquiry Thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker the Justice Committee mandate was broadened at the request of the Premier they can undertake an examination into any aspect of this situation including the documents the Honourable Member mentions Liberal Witnesses well Mr. Speaker most of the Liberal Witnesses have been Conservative Party candidates who were out with robo-calls and pamphlets knocking on doors saying vote for us and the gas plant will be done done done Mr. Speaker to my friend and the new Democratic Party I cannot help it the progressive Conservative candidates are being told not to show up at the committee Mr. Speaker but we are going to continue to call them because they are part of a very very relevant piece of this puzzle Thank you, Supplementary Final question of Supplementary Nothing says evasion like bouncing a question to the House Leader The Premier has said she wants to be transparent if the Premier is so committed to openness and transparency will she call a public into the gas plant scandal the waste of public money and the fact that senior Liberals were destroying information that belongs to the public Let's talk about transparency Mr. Speaker I mentioned some of the actions of the Premier in broadening the mandate of the committee if the member wants to talk about the information of Privacy Commissioner's report let me quote from what she said what was said on the news last night CFTO the Commissioner has praised saying Kathleen Nguyen has been proactive let me quote from the IPC report throughout this entire investigation my office received the full cooperation of all parties involved including the Premier's office that's the current Premier Cabinet Office the MGS current and former staff the Minister of Energy's office and the Archives of Ontario staff I appreciate the time taken and the information provided by these offices and by individual staff for the investigation Mr. Speaker the Premier has taken concrete steps to address this issue and she has asked me as Minister of Government Services to continue to see how we can strengthen the act I will be meeting with the Information and Privacy Commissioner shortly New question to the member from Cambridge Thank you Mr. Speaker I think the transparency that Ontarians want is an election Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker and I have drafted a letter asking the OPP to investigate your government's actions in relation to the deletion of emails surrounding the Oakvale and Mississauga power plant scandal I'll lay your options out for you Premier you can show some contrition and leadership by talking to us today or you can speak with the police regarding your government's illegal tactics your agenda of openness and transparency has been a farce from the start and the fact that you choose those words to describe your government shows how little respect you have for the people of this province so Premier since you won't acknowledge any wrongdoing on that side of the aisle we at least get out of the way when the OPP comes to your office to get to the bottom of this scandal on behalf of the people of Ontario Thank you very much Mr. Speaker well as I've said the OPP is an independent body but if the member opposite is suggesting that if there were a question asked of me by the OPP would I respond Mr. Speaker you know I take offense at the suggestion that I would not I absolutely would I would absolutely comply with anything that I was asked to do Mr. Speaker by the police and I think the member opposite actually knows that Mr. Speaker so as I say it was very hard to provide the information that the members have asked for Mr. Speaker we opened up the process we will continue as we began Mr. Speaker providing the information that is relevant to the questioning of the Justice Committee we will continue to do that Mr. Speaker I say great offense that this government continues to hide the truth from the people of Ontario I'm going to ask the member to withdraw because that is saying something that in the back door you can withdraw withdraw Mr. Speaker you stood here in this house talking about instilling accountability and a week later a report comes out saying how your government deleted accountability from the people of Ontario Premier the irony would be laughable if it weren't so shockingly expensive I quote from the report without a written record of how key government decisions are made the government can avoid disclosure and reasons for its actions you've been in that chair for almost four months and have yet to show a shred of accountability this is the best place to start will you right now Premier order your staff to get us the USB sticks and make the information public before they disappear quicker than the hard drives they came from thank you thank you Premier the member talks about documents let's talk about documents 130,000 documents have been provided to the committee 30,000 of them from the Premier's office Mr. Speaker let's talk about the Premier's commitment to transparency when she was made Premier one of her first thousands Mr. Speaker was asking the auditor general to look into the Oakville situation after that Mr. Speaker she offered the opposition a select committee to look into that situation and they said no because they wanted to have a witch hunt to get the former member but Mr. Speaker she wasn't held back by that she asked me to work with the opposition so that we could broaden the mandate of the committee she has appeared in front of the committee she has encouraged staff and ministers to appear in front of the committee Mr. Speaker she has been forthcoming with the information and privacy commissioner are being followed and asked me to look at how we can strengthen those rules Thank you a new question the member from Essex Thank you Speaker my question is the Premier Premier Ontarians want to know why the government wasted over a billion dollars of their money to cancel gas plants they want to know why the government thought they could get away with destroying key information today Member from Bruce Gray Owen Sound come to order carry on today New Democrats moved that the justice committee keeps sitting through the entire summer can the Premier explain why the Liberal members voted with the PCs to put their summer vacation plans ahead of getting answers for Ontarians Mr. Speaker there's a certain irony in that question the fact that the committee has full control of its own agenda Mr. Speaker is because the Premier of this province offered to have a broad mandate of the committee that it would in parliamentary parlance sit at the call of the chair the Premier has in no way tried to hamper the committee's investigations she has appeared in front of the committee and under her watch we have given 130,000 pages of documents to the committee including 30,000 from the Premier's office Mr. Speaker the control of the justice committee is in the hands of the members Mr. Speaker which I think is a tribute to the transparency of this Premier Thank you Supplementary Premier Ontarians deserve answers about the gas plant scandal New Democrats have called for an independent public inquiry but the government has dug in its heels then we called for the justice committee to keep sitting through the entire summer to get down to the answers but this government joined with the PCs and dug in their heels again they're more concerned with working on their golf handicap than working to find the truth why did the Liberal members vote against more transparency and against getting Ontarians the answers that they deserve Mr. Speaker I'm not sure if I'm the only one that finds it amusing that the NDP are now accusing the government of some conspiracy with the PCs to cover up the gas plant situation Mr. Speaker I think that's a little bit too rich for this side of the legislature the fact of the matter Mr. Speaker is that the justice committee with a broad mandate was set up Mr. Speaker with the support and encouragement of this Premier we have provided it with 130,000 documents those documents have been forthcoming Mr. Speaker as requests have come forward we've seen this Premier when she took office write a letter to the auditor general asking him to look into the Oakville situation and we're expecting his report later this summer Mr. Speaker this Premier has gone to great lengths to make sure that our government is as transparent as possible and as I say going forward she has asked me as Minister of Government Services to see ways that we can strengthen the current laws as outlined in the IPC's report my question is for the Minister of Finance a few weeks ago there was a passionate debate at Toronto City Council about converting the proposed Scarborough LRT into a subway many of our constituents in Scarborough Southwest have been trying to convert this project into a subway for some time and have supported this change for many years I know that you've recently had correspondence with the Federal Minister of Finance Jim Flurry about receiving more funding from the Federal Government on transit the province of Ontario has committed $8.4 billion in capital investments which is covering the cost of the Edmonton Scarborough Shepherd and Fitch projects the Federal Government has a measly $330 million not billion but million dollars allocated for the Shepherd project I can see why this range needs to be updated what are the circumstances around which aspects of the big move that could be revisited great question Minister of Finance thank you Mr. Speaker and I would like to thank the member from Scarborough Southwest for his passionate advocacy on this very important issue currently there's no plan to revisit these projects they're founded on a plan with metro links that is based on legal agreement signed in November with the City of Toronto the TTC and they're acting on that plan however it is unfortunate that the Federal Government has not established a dedicated transit fund if the Federal Government was at the table with their complete share of the funds needed to support transit expansion then aspects of the big move could be revisited this issue is simply too important for us to take a wait and see approach to Federal funding when we must act now to address the congestion crisis in the DTHA Federal infrastructure funding should be flexible so provinces and other partners can maintain a path to fiscal balance through our economy and community through strategic infrastructure investments the governments must be aligned with the federal investment strategy so that these priorities and strategic investments can be had and as you know Mr. Speaker I've invited the Federal Government and supplementary thank you Speaker and thank you Minister for writing that update and I agree it is truly unfortunate that the Federal Government has not come to the table yet with the national strategy on transit federal countries provide much greater Federal funding for transit projects and Canada is lagging behind its counterparts significantly Mr. Speaker our governments record on public transit investment is truly something to be proud of our budget 2013 outlined several key investments in public transit that we hope will be passed with support of all parties in the House we have stepped up to build transit across the province and we are already seeing results Mr. Speaker the Minister mentioned investments across the GTA and beyond in public transit could the Minister update us on the other projects that are part of the budget 2013 plan thank you Minister of Finance Minister of Transportation Minister of Transportation Thank you Mr. Speaker I want to be very clear about a few things here one we have a memorandum of understanding with the City of Toronto which they voted for they voted down Subways and Scarborough and then they changed their mind and then we went back and the Premier when she was Minister of Transportation with skill that I think could solve the Middle East crisis renegotiated brought that back and we have a deal we've had a deal not once Mr. Speaker but twice the federal government the door was always open to them to come in they did it the City Council could come and say we would like another MOU because we would like to add projects and for the first time we would like to write a big check the federal government could come to us Mr. Speaker and say we would like to join because you're paying 90% of the cost we don't think that's fair we think we're going to be kind of cheap at 5% we'll come up with maybe 25% and then anything is possible Mr. Speaker Thank you Thank you very much Mr. Speaker my questions for the Premier this morning Premier this just keeps getting worse and worse every day I'm sick of watching all the Premier's men unravel here in the legislature as this scandal continues to reach further and further into the liberal liberal organization and now we've even got the NDP who are guilty as well for aiding and abetting this criminal activity by continuing to support this government they're guilty of being an accessory after the fact you claim to be innocent it's not a private Gmail account to discuss the gas plants because you know it wouldn't be subject to freedom of information we've had your transition chief Manik Smith on record insulting a ruling by our speaker we've had two senior liberal chiefs of staff break the law to destroy documents Premier at least when Richard Nixon was breaking the law he had the decency to resign as the evidence to resign in that scandal show some respect for the office that you hold show some respect for the people of Ontario will you call in the OPC today while the clock has stopped I am going to recognize that this is a heated debate but I am a little concerned about the direction in the verbiage that's being used to make accusations against members I would prefer the questions to be direct away from that as much as possible thank you very much Mr. Speaker as I have said a few times in the House the OPP is an independent in the best interest of the people of Ontario I have said again Mr. Speaker that since I came into this office I have worked to make sure that all the information that was asked for was provided the fact is Mr. Speaker that the member opposite is talking about an email that he has it's an email that he has read it's an email that he has in his hands so clearly Mr. Speaker it's not something that I was trying to keep secret because he has it in his hands Mr. Speaker and that is completely consistent with what we have done since I came into this role Mr. Speaker we've opened up the process we've provided the information that was asked for we will continue to do that Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker the privacy commissioner ruled yesterday or this week that liberal government was guilty of breaking the law it's as simple as that and who is the leader of that liberal government it's the premier of the province I'm not interested in more talking points and neither are the people of Ontario Mr. Speaker they want to see some real action I'm interested in the premier that's you finally showing some respect for the office that you hold the chief of staff to your predecessor broke the law the former chief of staff to the minister of energy broke the law the senior members of your team have said in emails that they don't really see any problem with that they've actually stood up and said that they don't see any problem with breaking the law this is about a fundamental breach of trust that you and your senior members of your party and your government have committed against the people of Ontario only the OPP's white caller crime unit can get to the bottom of this scandal will you like Richard Nixon have to be escorted out of here to make that happen the bottom of this bring in the OPP invest government house leader Mr. Speaker I'm very interested in the Honourable Members discussion of the use of personal Gmail accounts Mr. Speaker they'll want to hear this I'd like to I'd like to read an email into the record says a great opportunity has come up you've been asked to do focus Ontario this week taping is tomorrow at 2pm and they want to give you the whole show you'll be on with John Tory and Keith Leslie the time works for your schedule so we're going to book it in and you've got some time before that to do a bit of prep it's signed Lynette Harris executive assistance to the leader of the opposition the most interesting thing Mr. Speaker it's sent to the leader of the opposition at his Gmail account Mr. Speaker Order please this is the time in which you don't know I'm going to take another step if it gets quiet and you decide you're going to interject No question the member from London Fanshawe Thank you Speaker my question is to the health minister of long-term care Speaker in London and Middlesex County 68% or 15 out of 22 long-term care homes have not had an annual resident quality inspection the minister's response has been extremely concerning implying that complaints or critical incident investigations can take the place of thorough and preventative inspections will the minister acknowledge that the 15 homes in Middlesex County investigated for complaints and critical incidents should still get a full inspection so that further tragedies can be prevented Thank you My question is that I completely agree that when people are in long-term care homes they and their loved ones ought to have confidence in the quality of care that is being delivered in those long-term care homes we are significantly strengthening Speaker the inspection protocol since 2010 we are inspections are much more thorough than they are resident focused is there more to do Speaker yes I believe there is more to do and I am exploring what those options might be Thank you the supplementary Speaker some long-term care homes in London have more than two dozen investigations following a complaint or critical incident the frequency of these complaint investigations might point to an underlying problem but still the minister has not taken the time to do a full inspection seniors in long-term care and their families want problems resolved before they turn to tragedy will the minister tell these families when full inspections of all long-term care homes will be completed Thank you Well Speaker I think it is important to note that every home does receive an inspection every year in fact last year the ministry undertook 2347 inspections that is an average of 37 inspections per home Speaker I think it is also important to talk about the real improvements in quality that are happening in our long-term care homes since the introduction and implementation of our new long-term care act Speaker at I will just speak about one home at Leisure Ward Toulouse 50% reduction in critical incidents because of the work that is being done through behavioral supports Ontario the behaviors are decreasing because staff is better trained to know how to deal with people who have significant behavioral challenges improving the quality of care is the highest priority in our long-term care homes inspections are part of that as I said before we are looking at how to even further strengthen those long-term care homes Thank you new question Thank you Speaker My question is with the minister of labour Mr. Saga East Cooksville has a large number of high rises and so the ongoing elevator strike is of issue and I have been getting quite a few emails and calls from concerned constituents here is an example of a constituent email to me there are three elevators in the building of 30 floors and only one elevator is operational there is a message saying the technicians are on strike I as a home maker have a very severe issue can the minister of labour give us an update on the negotiations that are taking place Thank you Thank you very much Speaker I want to thank the member for a very important question and I do sympathize with the concern that her constituent has raised I have received obviously similar emails from my constituency I am sure other members as well this is definitely an issue that impacts all Ontarians I want to assure the House that this is quite engaged in fact the ministry of labour mediator has met both the parties at 10 different occasions and is available to assist the parties at the bargaining table whenever requested Speaker we urge both parties to come back to the table and resume negotiations I am very confident that by working together the parties will be able to reach a settlement so settlements reached at the negotiating tables are the best one and the sustainable one I also understand Speaker that repairs can continue by qualified TSA certified personnel which various buildings and our constituencies can avail to Thank you very much Thank you Speaker and thank you to the minister for his update on how the negotiations are going as well as for clarifying that elevators can continue to be repaired I just like some clarification on behalf of my constituents as to how they would know whether an elevator repair person is a certified licensed repair person while the strike is going on Thank you so much Minister of Consumer Services Thank you very much First I want to inform all members of the House that his responsibility of building management and the owners to work with service providers to repair the elevator speaker in the interest of protecting public safety the technical safety and standards authority the TSA requires that only certified and qualified technicians work to repair the elevators Currently Speaker there are managers, supervisors and other certified personnel who have the required certifications to work on elevators so repairs are being done Speaker however not as quickly as many would like of course with regard to emergency situations buildings have their own plans Speaker to respond to situations with emergency responders it's important to note that the TSA has zero tolerance for situations where uncertified, unqualified personnel are found to be working on elevators I'm monitoring this very closely and TSA and myself will act on public safety Thank you Remember from Perth Wellington I'm sorry go ahead I'll come back to the member from here under us Mr. Speaker my question today is for the Premier Premier I'm going to quote from your thrown speech this past February Your government intends to work with municipalities on other issues too so that local populations are involved from the beginning if there's going to be a gas plant or a casino or a wind plant or a quarry Premier I'm now going to quote you and quote 104.9 the beach from Godridge this past Saturday During a visit to Sarnia Friday Premier Wynne when asked about the May 30th announcement told reporters that municipalities who have made declarations of unwilling host community are likely out of luck Premier your attitude towards rural Ontario is criminal but sadly that's become the norm of your government I'm afraid but going back to unwilling host communities in writing that they're unwilling Premier I have to ask you do you or do you not support these municipalities Mr. Speaker of course it's always best for parties to work cooperatively with municipalities I have a tremendous example of one right here Mr. Speaker and this is from the member from Nipissing when he was mayor and perhaps we should take his lead and municipalities might take his lead taking advantage of locally available green power resources is a good fit with the long range development strategy we have for the community I am particularly pleased with the relationship we have struck with West Wind Development Inc. for the first half of the project that the company's reputation as a responsible wind power developer can put North Bay on the map as a showcase for the sensitive and responsible development to create renewable energy resource Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Minister you and I both know that's nothing but a load of spin and back to the Premier we see caucus are wondering why this last week's announcement was made before the working group has actually even gotten together and presented recommendations as reported in August Premier it's an insult to rural Ontario municipalities thought that they could expect better from you you told them they could but you instead think you can fool them with this announcement and actually they know better they are very savvy now they know it means nothing who did your working group and I tell you no one in my riding heard from anybody because of that Premier will you invite opposition like myself and other members impacted by industrial wind turbines to join your working group so we can do the right thing Mr. Speaker I assure you that the decibel level doesn't necessarily create any more substance to the reality of the situation Mr. Speaker community spoke and the council will come to order and I'm going to ask that all members allow the answer to be put the member from Leeds Grenville is looking for a warning he's got one you are warned Mr. Speaker community spoke mayor spoke and we listened we consulted with the association of municipalities of Ontario in a very significant way we listened to stakeholders Mr. Speaker for these large renewable projects and the power authority is creating a new bidding process where priority approval is given to projects that have prior municipal approval making it extremely difficult if not impossible Mr. Speaker for contracts to be awarded without an arrangement with a municipality in addition to that Mr. Speaker we're creating funds for municipalities small and medium sized municipalities so they can create municipal energy plans Mr. Speaker our taxation availability for municipalities that have wind turbines Mr. Speaker it's very significant new question thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the Mr. Labour Mr. on Tuesday 400 retirees of National Auto Rad in Windsor learn that they will lose their health and life insurance benefits the reason is the employer bankruptcy and has cleverly manipulated things so that all liquidated assets will be going to another company a sister company get this owned by the same family that owns National Auto Rad why is this government doing nothing when 400 loyal Windsor retirees are being stripped of their hard-earned health benefits by an unscrupulous employer Mr. Labour Mr. Speaker I thank the member opposite for bringing this issue to my attention obviously it seems like it's a matter between a union and its employee and I obviously encourage the union and the employee to work together to be able to come to some sort of a settlement we always encourage parties to negotiate the type of things around the negotiating table that's where best results are created so I encourage the company and the union to work together to work in agreement if they need the assistance of the Ministry of Labour mediators we will provide those services to facilitate an agreement thank you Speaker Thank you Supplementary Minister this isn't the one off this is just one of many stories of employers exploiting loopholes in federal and provincial law to deny workers wages and benefits that they are rightfully owed in January Virtus Communications in Fort Erie and I know you're familiar with this announced that it was shutting down filing for bankruptcy in the States and leaving 100 employees with no jobs and no severance the callous treatment of workers such as those at Virtus and National Auto Rad is wrong and simply has to stop when will this government finally take action to ensure that loyal workers like those in Windsor and Niagara get the wages and benefits that are rightfully theirs Minister like that the issues that the member speaks of are federal issues and in fact I have written to the federal minister of Labour to encourage her to ensure that they enhance their worker employment protection program which under protection program you know this is an issue that the federal government has to deal with to ensure that in the matter of Virtus which the member from Niagara also aptly advocated for a particular issue the federal government extend the wage earner protection to those who are beyond just a bankruptcy situation. I look forward to working with the member on this. I've written to the Minister of Labour federally and I'll continue to urge her to provide the protection that Ontario workers so much deserve. Thank you very much Thank you Mr. President Thank you Speaker my question is to the Minister of Training of Colleges and Universities Speaker this is an important time a year for high school students across the province many have already been accepted at post secondary institutions for the coming fall term also many students already in college and university have travelled home for the summer to be with their family and their friends Ontario has world class institutions across this province and some students like the ones in my writing of Glenn Gary Prescott Russell need to travel a distance to attend college and or university. Commuting from a great distance can be difficult frustrating and at times time consuming. However some students have no choice but to commute and I can understand the frustrations they face. Speaker through you to the Minister can the Minister inform the House about the opportunity to post secondary students have when they commute to school. Mr. Training College University Thank you Mr. Speaker and that member is a strong voice for students across the province that do have long distances to travel to post secondary education and we're really proud of the fact that Ontario has the best colleges and universities in the world. Each and every student that's qualified should be free to choose which institution they'd like to attend regardless of the distance. Ontario distance grants assist OSAP eligible students from remote and rural Ontario areas with their transportation costs. The commuting grant provides $500 per term to students who commute on a regular basis 80 kilometers or more and there's no post secondary institution near their home. The travel grant provides $300 a year to single dependent students who live away from home during the study period and their parents home is 80 kilometers or more from the closest institution. Mr. Speaker time with family and friends is important. Community can be a time consuming and financially difficult. Our government is providing the tools to make this easier for students. Supplementary. Thank you speaker for that great response from the minister. It's great to see that our government is making post secondary education more affordable and more accessible. Students in my right in Blengary Prescott Russell often study full time Mr. Speaker in French and they have to travel to various colleges and universities across the province. Access to Francophone studies is important to many students and I speak that I speak with and are dedicated to pursuing their degrees in French and I'm pleased to hear this but once again communing and traveling to appropriate institutions can form a barrier for many students. Speaker through you to the minister. Could he provide us with an update on what the government is doing to assist Francophone students who need to travel to college or university. Thank you minister. This is a question that our minister responsible for Francophone affairs speaks to me about very often. Francophone students deserve a supportive learning environment that allows them to study and succeed in their own language. We recognize the importance of providing Francophone students in Ontario with a broader range of post secondary options for study. Beginning in 2013-14 eligible Francophone students who are attending full time studies in French will be eligible for both the commuting grant and the travel grant even if there is another institution closer to home. This expanded eligibility criteria to support accessibility of French language post secondary studies in Ontario. The speaker of government is committed to providing the best post secondary education in the world. This grant is just one way that we're doing that and I want to thank the minister for Francophone affairs for her continual championing of these important issues on behalf of Francophone students. Thank you. Good question. The member from Perth Wellington. Thank you speaker. The question is through the premier. As part of your tendering policy your government is destroying independent school bus operators. Shortly after you became premier I wrote to your education minister to demand a change. I've sent countless emails for constituents whose livelihoods are at stake and met with the minister of rural affairs. You ignored recommendations by former integrity commissioner Kohler Osborn who said you got it wrong. He showed you a better fair path than the last day court case that said your decisions were wrong. Premier how many court decisions will it take and how many lost jobs will it take before you admit your policy has failed. Minister of Education. Yes, thank you. The member opposite is referring to an area which has clearly been difficult and because this has been a difficult area we have met with both Ontario school bus operators and also the independent school bus operators because we now have a situation where there's two competing organizations representing operators and what we have said to both of those organizations is that we're willing to work with them and look at the procurement practices and make sure that the RFP practices are well-refined that they are clear and that they're clear to everybody who is bidding. But I must make it clear that the auditor general has given us direction that we do need to have a fair and open procurement process. Thank you, my question is to the Premier. Premier, if you were putting students first you would be putting their safety first. Both the task force that Kohler Osborn chaired and the Interior Chamber of Commerce talked about the benefits of independent school bus operators. Like them, I know the best interests of our rural school communities are when local operators who know their student populations serve our schools. Your actions prove you disagree with that. Will you put our students first and will you restore integrity in student transportation by letting our small independent operators compete? Minister? Yes, thank you. I repeat, we have met with Karen Cameron representing the independent school bus operators and we've met with the Ontario school bus association and we have said to both of them that we are willing to have a look at how the procurement policies are defined. But I think it is also important that we note that when we look at the data around who has been successful in procuring contracts that contrary to some of the reports we have heard that the number of small operators has actually gone up. If you actually look at the experience across the province the number of contracts that have gone to the smaller operators has actually increased. Thank you. My question is to the minister of transportation. Yesterday scientist David Suzuki added his voice to the growing list of people critical of the Liberal government's plan to run diesel trains along the air rail link. Suzuki's concerns echo those of transit expert Joelle and van der Wagen who recently called the Liberals diesel plan the first current example of wasted resources and opportunity. She calls electric train service a common sense alternative to create a GTA wide rapid transit network now not 30 years down the road. Speaker will the minister admit that this diesel line is a bad plan and finally commit to immediate electrification of the Union Pearson express. Minister of transportation infrastructure. Thank you. Mr. Speaker the more I listen to the third party the more confused I am by their priorities. Big priority number one make it cheaper to drive a car. Big priority number two I don't understand because we both share a challenging set of constituencies along the Lakeshore line where we're not running right now tier four diesel that is 25% of emissions the trains that run along Ontario's tracks for the last 70 years have been diesel Mr. Speaker. I don't understand as someone who represents people who live half a block from the CN and CPR main lines where diesel is common place that their health with conventional diesel seems to be a lower priority for the members who have already committed to do electrification by 2017 when is one of the six new Democrats who represent people along the infested lines as they might call them. Thank you supplementary. Thank you Speaker I just don't understand why this government would move ahead with more diesel transit investment at this point. Let's be very clear as new Democrats we believe in transit investment we're committed to it we know we need to pay for it in fair ways. We believe in smart transit investment the auditor general has criticized this government's diesel power plan he says higher affairs will drive down what he says our overly optimistic ridership projections on this line instead an electrified line would allow multiple stops it would generate higher ridership it would be more affordable and it would serve as a downtown relief line for the West End let's talk about this line minister so one last time will the minister commit to do it once do it right the first time and to electrify the Union Pearson from day one Mr. Speaker I'm going to say this very slowly we are doing it the EA is underway it's for 2017 the environmental process doesn't allow us to do it now because it won't be ready for the Pan Am games which would be an embarrassment and we're pretty proud of the Pan Am game I'm still confused Mr. Speaker we could take 900 million dollars right now out of what 20 northern highways how would that third party feel about that Mr. Speaker when is the third party going to demand in Ottawa here a national transit strategy when are they going to show concern about getting conventional diesel on the CN and CPR lines electrified which we can only do with the federal party when will Mr. Speaker say the word electrification electrification of a national transit policy they had a chance when we were in power Mr. Speaker to support a national transit policy and they signed it with the party there then cancelled it Mr. Speaker electrification thank you thank you thank you no deferred votes to some stance recess until 1pm this afternoon