 It's now time for question period The member from NIPAS Thank you speaker. Thank you for your your words as well very emotional words Your my question is for the Premier your budget is being presented today for the final vote in the pre-budget hearings Health throughout Ontario. We heard from all walks of life people said do something to help families struggling to pay their hydro bills Businesses told you get out of our way so we can create jobs and restore the Ontario that you've ruined But you did neither instead you dug deeper into the pockets of families and Seniors and you put forward a bill that makes it even more expensive to do business in Ontario premier Why do you continue to refuse to listen to the people of Ontario? Thank you Well, mr. Speaker, I know that the the member opposite was Excited when the announcement of the northern industrial energy rate Program was announced as being permanent. Mr. Speaker. I know that he understands that that is a real boon to industry in the north I know that he when constituents come to him He talked to them about the programs that That are in place in order to mitigate the cost of hydro mr. Speaker I'm sure that he lets seniors and people on low-income know that there are programs in place to support them Mr. Speaker, I'm sure he lets them know about that He also knows that some of those like making the northern industrial energy rate Program permanent that was part of our budget mr. Speaker So I say to the member opposite there was much in our budget whether the investments in infrastructure So the roads and bridges and communities in his in his area and around his community Or whether it was the increase in the minimum wage mr. Speaker that will help people in this problem Premier it's clear what's actually happened to Ontario under your term We now have the highest hydro rates in North America They went up 15% last month alone and with your fire sale of hydro run one They're going to rise even higher premier We have the highest payroll taxes in Canada and with your pension tax They are poised to rise even higher. That's why GM Ford Chrysler dozens of industries Our largest retailers banded together with 50 chambers of commerce to say you're wrong We had 2700 fewer businesses in Ontario last year than the year before They're not out of business premier They're out of Ontario All the experts have told you to change course premier. Why do you continue to ignore them? Issues that the member opposite is raised But let me just let me just say to him that it is very important to us to recognize that Ontario Once again this year is the number one Jurisdiction for direct foreign investment mr. Speaker in North America that is that is a very important You know the conditions that are in place in Ontario Are drawing business and drawing industry to the province mr. Speaker the other issues that he has raised in terms of The need for an enhancement to the pension plan mr. Speaker and our response to the federal government that is not interested in Enhancing the Canada pension plan. We are putting forward an Ontario retirement pension plan Mr. Speaker that's to solve a problem The problem is People cannot save enough and what the business owners have said is be careful in the design We are listening to them. We are listening to the business owners across the province. The associate minister finances talking to people Thank you You a premier as usual you say one thing, but the complete opposite is true Your pension tax will hurt businesses and families your hydro one fire sale will drive up hydro rates and hurt families and seniors the officers of the Oversight and your hydro deal will be done in complete secrecy All this is so that you can continue your infrastructure charade You say the money But it was already in last year's budget without the money from the pension tax and the hydro fire sale It's all a ruse. It's all a shell game You are so desperate for cash and everybody in this building knows it Premier will you stand down? Budget vote today and take your long hard second look at the damage. It's going to cause Ontario Thank you Premier, you know, I think the the people of nipissing Alone, but I think many people across the province would be interested to know that the member opposite and his party Think that the Canada pension plan is a tax. Mr. Speaker because that's the extension of what he is saying He is saying that an enhancement to the Canada pension plan the Ontario retirement pension plan that we would put in place is A tax that's not what pensions are mr. Speaker The young people the 20 and 30 and 40 year olds in nipissing and in Renfrew and across this province Mr.. Speaker are not able to save enough even when they have jobs mr. Speaker the fact Remember from Renfrew nipissing Pembroke's second time Pension mr. Speaker is not a tax We are listening to businesses and individuals around the problem the design in terms of the the hydro one mr. Speaker We are building transit. We're building transportation It was in our budget that one of the ways we were going to pay for that was through it Thank you. Any question the member from Renfrew nipissing Pembroke. Mr. Speaker my question the minister of energy Former Premier Dalton McGinney once said this about privatizing hydro one Selling off a natural public monopoly is a bad idea It's a quick fix and it's a bad one They're prepared to sell off our one and only electricity highway Perhaps he should have ended by saying Unless it's the liberals and they're desperate for cash Former Liberal cabinet minister and energy critic Sean Conway said this about sale of hydro one It is unacceptable that there is no But perhaps he should have clarified this with unless hiding things saves the liberals from future scandals Minister is it not true that you're rushing headlong with the fire sale of hydro one Because you've maxed out the provincial credit cards And you want to avoid any scrutiny from the hydro one scandals to come Mr. Speaker The member for which with the osha was said on march 5th 2015 as premier I will order an immediate review of all assets owned by government Every dollar made will be invested in new infrastructure right across our province Let's use the full value of his assets to build the roads Highways member from leeds granville Rows highways subways and infrastructure that every ontario can use mr. Speaker and let's hear about patrick brown When asked about asset modernization I generally believe that the private sector can do a better job than the public sector I generally think market conditions would be helpful for a lot of government agencies Mr. Speaker in the supplementary i'll speak to their white policy paper Thank you supplementary Thank you back to the minister minister We all know that you want the ombudsman report into hydro one scandals billing practices to just go away However customers of the utility will will not soon forget the anxiety and distress you caused them When the amounts of incorrect bills were automatically withdrawn from their bank accounts And customer service agents at hydro one treated them like they were the thieves when they tried to get the errors corrected Yet no one at hydro one has been fired even though customers were often treated with disdain And managers tried to obfuscate the ombudsman's investigation Minister is it not time that openness and accountability be restored? And those who were in charge during this billing fiasco Determinated Thank you minister manager Mr. Speaker, I think that's a wake-up call to the truth legislation requires the new hydro one To set up an office of an ombudsperson Mr. Speaker, we've retained the former auditor general of canada denny dozer tell to oversee the implementation Of an ombudsman in hydro one to ensure transparency and accountability But mr. Speaker no government in recent memory has expanded the oversight of independent legislative officers as this government has done We created a position of financial accountability officer We made the french language services commissioner independent We put into place a provincial advocate for children and youth We've allocated new powers to the provincial advocate for children and youth Expanded the ombudsman's role to include oversight of municipalities school boards and public funded Thank you final supplementary That was actually ontario calling gas when the truth would be heard from over there Minister hydro one composition want decisive action today on the ombudsman's investigation Only liberals would think that an insincere apology Was proportional response to over 10 000 complaints and businesses being overcharged millions of dollars But after this morning's vote The officers of the legislature will no longer be able to hold hydro one or you accountable Although you may think you're helping yourself by politically by removing this oversight In reality without these checks you will become more arrogant more reckless and which will lead to even greater scandals in the future minister Will you not save yourself from your party's own hubris and allow the auditor general and the ombudsman to continue to investigate hydro one Thank you minister minister speaker as minister i received the report from the ombudsman And i referred it to the new chair of hydro one mr. Speaker With the request that it be reviewed To ensure that all recommendations will be implemented mr. Speaker to look at any further issues around the billing issue And customer service issues to report back publicly mr. Speaker within 40 days Mr. Speaker at the same time the new chair of hydro one Is in the process of selecting a ceo of hydro one And myself as minister and the chair of hydro one mr. Speaker are in the process of restructuring the board of hydro one Mr. Speaker we're moving forward with determination Remember from renfrew and nipissing pembroke the second uh warning. No, sorry you're warned Wrap up sentence, please mr. Speaker. We're moving forward responsibly with determination To reposition an asset which will be invested in infrastructure mr. Speaker billions of dollars of infrastructure Which will not require tax increases or thank you new question the leader of the third party Thank you, speaker my questions to the premier Yesterday the premier stood in her place Looked me look me in the eye and said regarding this sell-off of hydro one that quote It was very clear in our budget in our platform and in our budget again that we were looking at assets Unquote well speaker going to niagra falls and standing in front of the surat and beck dam Is looking at a hydro asset Looking isn't selling speaker Recycling isn't selling speaker maximizing isn't selling Unlocking isn't selling Will this premier cut the nonsense and the doublespeak and give ontarians a chance to have Their say by holding a referendum on hydro one sell-off I'm going to ask the leader to withdraw Good job speaker you Premier Hey, mr. Speaker We we and I've read these quotes a number of times and I will I'll read them again But mr. Speaker one in particular The the 2014 budget and the quote That I will read is that we will look at maximizing and unlocking value from assets It currently holds including real estate holdings as well as crown corporations such as opg hydro one in the lc Actually those words mr. Speaker can encompass a variety of things That's why those words were used mr. Speaker because at the time of the budget the decision had not been made as to exactly What we were going to be doing the that's why we had asked ed park and his group to look at the assets mr Speaker and by that I mean and you know you can have a narrow definition the denotation of look but Mr. Speaker the connotation of look is that we would review that we would That we would analyze and that we would then make a decision And there would be a range of things that we would be considering Speaker yesterday the premier lectured ontarians about how she'd been clear about her plan to maximize assets Ontarians heard about recycling Unlocking leveraging but not a sell-off People shouldn't need google translate together with a magic eight ball speaker to figure out what this premier is talking about The premier went out of her way to keep ontarians in the dark about her scheme to sell off hydro one That's the fact speaker ontarians actually want to be heard speaker in a democracy That is not an extraordinary request when we're dealing with one of the biggest policy Decisions to come our way in a generation Will this premier to the right thing by the people of ontario and hold a referendum on the sell-off of hydro Mr. Speaker what party is she just cannot have it both ways She cannot read as everyone did Our 257 of our budget where we said we're exploring options to unlock the full value of a wide range of valuable provincial assets specifically the lcbo hydro one and opg Unquote she can't read that and then go out and say on july 9th 2014 And I quote the leader of the third party the end the budget says in black and white that the government is looking at the Sale of assets including crown corporations such as ontario power generation hydro one in the liquor control board of ontario Mr. Speaker, I do not believe that the leader of the third party was the only person in ontario who understood That one of the things we were looking at in that range of options was the potential sale of some of those assets Final supplementary Have become very accustomed to the wily ways of this government and the way they talk The premier Please finish if she doesn't believe that speaker that she needs to go out to the tim hortons in hamilton The tin hortons in winsor in sarnia in ottawa in thunder bay or in fact when she's in the tim hortons today in Toronto, I encourage her to ask anyone she meets to they remember that this premier was running on a plan to sell off hydro one Do they remember at all voting to sell off hydro one? I've been in those communities and I can tell you I've been hearing from people at town hall meetings across ontario Not a single person voted to sell off hydro Thank you very much, mr. Speaker Well, you know if the leader of the third party were as emphatic in her support for transit and transportation infrastructure Mr. Speaker, I think she would understand Why it is so important that we find a way to make those investments And we were very clear that making those investments was a fundamental part of our economic plan. Mr. Speaker Thanks, please Mr. Speaker government after government in this province and in jurisdictions around north america have put off the investment in infrastructure Which is why those same jurisdictions are looking now to find ways to make those investments because that neglect Has set in mr. Speaker. We are not going to wait any longer We have been building since 2003 and we are going to can we're going to continue building But we cannot do that by only borrowing which is what the leader of the third party would have us do We were very clear that there are a range of things we need to do One of them was reviewing asset And using that to invest in future assets New questions leader of the third party Middle-class families deserve a fair shake speaker. They deserve a hydro system that they can afford They deserve a hydro system that support job supports jobs and that actually serves the public interest But instead of fixing hydro one speaker this premier is handing control to big banks To offshore investors and to a small group of her powerful friends Instead Stop the clock the the minister of economic development employment and infrastructure is learned Please finish A say speaker speaker. They deserve a say Will this premier put those families ahead of a handful of insiders and give people a say by holding a referendum Thank you Mr. Speaker, I you know, I know that the people of Ontario know that hydro one is valuable That's why mr. Speaker the protections that we have put in place are there We've made it very clear that 40 percent of the of this company will remain in the public hands, mr. Speaker The protections for Price controls mr. Speaker the Ontario energy board which sets prices now will set prices after this arrangement is in place, mr. Speaker We've also made it clear that no single entity or individual will own more than 10 percent There are controls over the board, mr. Speaker that will remain in the hands of the provincial government Those are the protections that must be in place. This was a difficult decision But mr. Speaker, it is the right decision because if we do not do this We cannot make the investments in transit and transportation infrastructure that apparently the third party doesn't think we're important, mr. Speaker Right To premier any of that about the 40 percent about the 10 percent to homes and to businesses People deserve to know that hydro one is being run in their best interest speaker Instead hydro one is going to be run to benefit banks Offshore investors and a small group of the premier's powerful friends Giving people their say is the right thing to do in this circumstance speaker Can the premier tell middle-class families why she's more interested in hearing from a small group of powerful insiders than she is In hearing from ontarians themselves about a sell-off of their hydro one Thank you Do you remember from hamilton east stony creek? Mr. Vanerjee your speaker over the last Eight or nine years this government has invested Over 33 billion dollars to make a system clean reliable mr. Speaker and affordable We put ourselves into a surplus position when we had a deficit previously What we've done with that surplus mr. Speaker is create the industrial electricity incentive program a program That gives up to 50 off Marginal increase electricity use to businesses that includes for the brain member from tim and st. James mr. Speaker Two new gold mines opening in northern ontario using the iei program mr. Speaker last year detour gold opening up A new gold mine 20 million dollars a particular year Mr. Speaker creating jobs in pennbrook at mdf paper board 140 new jobs in whitby mr. Speaker Atlantic packaging creating 80 jobs with this program That's based on surplus energy that we have invested in mr. Speaker. Thank you final supplementary Speaker People deserve to know That when the premier says something she actually means it They deserve to know that when the premier stands up In this legislature and says and i quote We are not selling off the assets that the premier is being honest It turns out that the premier is selling hydro one speaker People deserve a premier who listens to them and who treats them with respect Will this premier agree to hold a hydro one referendum? Or will she keep telling families in ontario that she really doesn't care at all what they think Thank you minister of energy Mr. Speaker I think many people in the province of ontario certainly everybody on this side of the house Believe that the premier that we have has got courage to make tough decisions. Mr. Speaker moving forward Mr. Speaker, she recognizes She recognizes there's an infrastructure deficit across canada including in ontario mr. Speaker And she has put together a 10-year 34 billion dollar program mr. Speaker to invest in schools and A member from hamilton mountain is warned Finish please is visionary mr. Speaker. It takes a lot of guts to make that type of commitment mr. Speaker It's going to make ontario more competitive And it's going to increase our quality of life in this province mr. Speaker So i'm pleased to be on this side of the house Progress New question remember from dufferin callum Thank you Question is to the attorney general members may not be aware that the attorney general has decided to pay the legal fees A former justice of the peace sentino spadafora To the tune of $14,000 Spadafora retired days before he was scheduled to appear before the justices of the peace review council to face A disciplinary hearing for submitting false expenses There were allegations of 600 false claims for meals hotels highly told mileage in the amount of $16,000 By retiring the review council lost jurisdiction over spadafora because he's not a justice anymore And he avoids the disciplinary hearing just so i'm clear there was no hearing Minister, can you explain what justification you use to face spadafora's legal fees? So the uh, first of all, thank you for the question and the member is right. Yes, I've made the decision to uh to pay The recommendation of the justice of the peace review council and as you know, mr. Speaker the Justice of the peace review council has been in place since the 1970s and it's an independent it's an independent body that has A mandate to receive an investigate complaint against justice of the peace and review an approved standard of conduct and also moreover they have the The legislative responsibility to make recommendation to government about compensation for costs associated with with hearing And yes, the the uh justice of the peace has resigned Before the hearing so there was no hearing and i'll explain in the supplementary why i came to this conclusion Thank you It was a recommendation. You're the minister you actually get to make the decision A reasonable person would have to believe that the only reason spadafora chose to retire early was to avoid the hearing If the hearing had found him guilty of submitting false claims He could have been forced to repay that sixteen thousand dollars instead. You want to give him another fourteen thousand dollars? Looks to me like spadafora gained the system to avoid a disciplinary hearing and to avoid Repaying the false expense claims Do the right thing minister make the decision today that you will not pay his legal fees I want to remind all members that once you are warned the next time I speak to you you are named Attorney general Yes, if the member uh on the opposite would have taken the time to read which is public The uh the recommendation and the reasoning from the justice of the peace review council They will she will have seen that uh, you know, uh the member from dufferin callan and come to order second time Different reason like the retired before the finding was made and the council Noted that in the canadian system of justice It is not appropriate to assume that there will have been a finding of judicial misconduct And the work of the justice of the peace lawyer to narrow the issue ultimately save considerable cost and after consider And that none of the work The member from dufferin callan and is warned Carry on to say mr. Speaker that none of the work after is submitted is a letter of retirement Was compensated to uh, ensure that the process was not being manipulated. So yes after consideration I have decided to follow the review council consideration Thank you new question The member from charlton danforth Thank you speaker to the premier Liberals are stacking the ontario energy board full of energy insiders and people who have made their careers fighting for higher rates marika's hair Spent 15 years with enbridge before she joined the oeb Then while at the oeb. She approved a 40 rate increase for her old employer Now now she's getting a promotion to vice chair The premier is also appointing former energy lobbyists And a former hydro one staff whose job it was to get higher rates The premier is stacking the oeb with energy insiders The premier is putting a lot of faith in the oeb So why is she appointing and promoting energy insiders instead of consumer advocates who will stick up For families and businesses Mr. Speaker, I don't believe that that member really believes the premise of his question I know mr. Speaker that he understands when you put together a board of directors of 12 or 14 people, mr. Speaker I'm sure he knows mr. Speaker that when you put together a board of 12 or 14 people You get a selection of Expertises on that particular board. You want somebody who can chair an audit committee, mr. Speaker You want somebody who has experience in the sector who's an industrial or business experience person You need somebody who can Understand human resources, mr. Speaker You get a comp a composite of people on the board, mr. Speaker So we do not apologize for having people on the interior board who understand the sector, mr. Speaker and who can Contribute to a board of directors with that level of expertise Speaker It's not just that the premier is stacking the oeb with energy industry insiders The government is also looking at cutting supports for customer interveners who help consumers fight for fair energy rates This is an awfully strange time for the premier to be mucking around with the inner workings Of the oeb at the same time as she's engaging in the biggest hydro sell-off since mike harris and urneves Why at the same time as the premier is appointing and promoting energy insiders to the oeb And selling off hydro one to the private sector Why is the premier looking at stopping interveners from standing up for consumers at the ontario energy board? Mr. Speaker The current chair and ceo of the ontario energy board rosemary leclerc, mr. Speaker Is an industry insider. She was formerly the ceo of hydro auto a mr. Speaker Hydro autoa comes to this particular board, mr. Speaker looking for rate increases I haven't heard one person suggest that that background experience puts her in a conflict of interest, mr. Speaker We have credible people on the board. They come from a cross section Of expertise in the community mr. Speaker sometimes from outside the province Sometimes from outside the country mr. Speaker because we want objective people on that board We want people who understand the industry who understand consumer advocacy who understand audits, mr. Speaker And who understand communications mr. Speaker. We have all of that on the ontario energy board and we make no excuse for that Yes, see me. Thank you. Mr. Speaker. My question is for the minister of energy Trans canada submitted a project description for the proposed energy east pipeline project to the national energy board And I know that ontarians have voiced their concerns about this proposal including some of my own constituents in auto south Concerns around risk potential risks to public safety our lakes and rivers our natural gas supply Recent federal legislation has limited the scope and time allotted for the national energy board hearings And can limit community and public participation in the regulatory process To that end. I understand many ontarians are interested in knowing What role the province will have in the regulatory process Mr. Speaker, can the minister please tell the house what role ontario will play in the hearing process And what the government is doing to ensure that the voices of ontarians are heard question. Thank you Mr. Speaker, I thank the member from auto south for the question Our government believes that it is vital that the national energy board Only move forward once it adheres to our cabinet approved principles namely The highest safety and environmental standards be met The duty to fully consult with aborigin on local communities must be met There must be world leading contingency planning and emergency response programs together with the developer assuming 100% liability for spills. Mr. Speaker They must demonstrate economic benefits and opportunities to the people of ontario over the short and long term And current consumers of natural gas must be protected with regards to price and supply The oeb has engaged with stakeholders first nations and matey communities and the public and will complete a report That represents the interests of all ontarians. This report will inform ontario's position at the national energy board Mr. Speaker thank you Thank you very much mr. Speaker and I'd like to thank the minister for that answer And I know that my constituents who attended the community oeb community consultation session appreciated very much I attended the consultation myself and I can state that these were not only a forum for ontarians to provide their input But also to learn more about the proposed project itself Mr. Speaker ontario has been proactive in its approach to energy east asking the oeb to undertake a review of the application Which is ongoing and forming a working group with the province go back to identify common interests position and positions concerning this project Minister since trans candidates filed this application to the national energy board I believe that it has effectively suspended The application and is amending it to reflect significant changes to the proposal as it was originally filed So mr. Speaker through you to the minister How is this yet to be seen amended proposal affecting ontario's ability to review the application And prepare its intervention with the national energy board minister Mr. Speaker as I mentioned It is vital that all governments take the time to hear from experts community and municipal leaders Aboriginal groups business leaders and other impacted groups Just today mr. Speaker. I am the Quebec energy minister sent a joint letter To the national energy board seeking clarification on a number of areas of shared concern Given that trans canada is significantly amending its application Elements of the process have become unclear. Mr. Speaker We expect and deserve to know exactly what those projects will include and to have the applications supported by the highest degree of rigor analysis and due diligence We will not compromise the health and safety of ontarians We look forward to a timely response from the national energy board Who will actively participate in the federal regulatory process once it formally commences. Thank you, mr. Speaker Thank you. Do you have a question for the member from the hall of burden Minister as of june 1st the assistive devices program is now facing a 20 million dollar cut in funding These cuts were made without any consultation with the industry and with no consideration of the vulnerable individuals that rely on assistive devices Like walkers and wheelchairs According to the canadian assistive devices association Ontarians in need of these products will suffer due to these actions on the part of the assistive device program This 20 million reduction is yet another example of your government cutting corners Like cutting funding for diabetes test strips chiropractic care physio there and cataract surgeries This is going to have long-term consequences for seniors. So minister Will you immediately reinstate the program so assistive device dealers across ontario continue to provide the necessary services for Thank you, mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the question I'm proud of the fact that this province and this government is providing through the assistive devices program support to more than 300 000 ontarians And we've done that by in fact, that's an increase of 100 000 people since when we came into office in 2003 the funding that we've provided to assistive devices in that program since 2003 has actually increased by 99 percent mr. Speaker where we're providing almost half of A billion dollars to ontarians and those ontarians that deserve the support and need the support But I think the member would agree and acknowledge that as technologies evolve Efficiencies are fine found rather mr. Speaker. We've learned that for some devices We've been overpaying as that technology as it has evolved. We've also found opportunities where By doing a request for proposals or looking at providing them in a more efficient way that we can also find Thank you Thank you, mr. Speaker. Well, we both know that there'll be more need as the age of seniors Increases there's more seniors in our province so the reduction for the funding for the assistive device program Will result in further cost to our health care system I get these concerns in my community office every day It's yet another example of your government spending a dollar to save a dime This means cuts that a grandmother would have to wait three months for funding for a wheelchair Or pay out of her own pocket instead of receiving the wheelchair when she needs it Instead she's more likely to fall end up back in the hospital Further costing the system and impacting the quality of her life Minister, did you consider the impact that these cuts have on the quality of health care and the long-term implications to our Thank you Well, well, mr. Speaker We've certainly considered the impact of our changes and continuing to review the more than 8,000 Products that we provide through this program to ontarians We've seen and we understand the improved access that they're going to provide and in many cases It's going to lower the cost to the consumer to ontarians as we continue to review Precisely how much we're paying for each one of these items But we will continue to review the approved costing of the funding products I think it's a responsible thing for a government to do to not overpay for certain devices to pay the Appropriate amount for them and these changes as I mentioned in many cases result will actually result in lower costs for ontarians So this it speaks again to the importance of we'll have an opportunity in a few minutes to make sure the budget Passes so we can actually actually implement these changes these efficiencies and improvements so we can provide even more services to ontarians Thank you, speaker. My question is to the premier speaker on monday the minister of education claimed that class size caps Were not on the table Yesterday though the minister admitted that class size caps are part of negotiations Blaming the president of the school boards association Ontarians know that the premier and her government hold ultimate responsibility over education in this province The blame game won't work The premier and her government need to stand up for families and commit to keeping class size manageable Ensuring high quality education for our kids Small class sizes are essential to student learning kids don't need less one-on-one time. They need more Will the premier step up and commit to families that there will be no increase to class size caps in the fall? Yes or no minister of education And of course, uh, the responsibility of the government which is clear from the legislation is as the funder So what I can absolutely say Is that the funding will be for 22 to 1 at secondary Which is what we're talking about the funding was 22 to 1 last year the funding's 22 what the one this year The funding's been 22 to 1 for the last decade order funding was probably 22 to 1 for the decade before that except during the social contract when it was a totally different system anyway, so If you're asking me am I committed to that to which I can commit Which is is the funding going to carry on at 22 to 1? Absolutely answer. That's what's in the grants That's what in the money that's been sent into the boards. That is the money that they're placing their budgets Thank you Thank you speaker. I think my my question was pretty straightforward. Will the minister do her job and protect education or not? Any changes that would increase class size caps? The minister needs to stop sitting on the sidelines and protect our kids education in this province The blame grand game is growing old and ontarian sees right through it One on one time is absolutely crucial to kids success in school And frankly the premier and her government are well aware of that kids with special needs kids with esl requirements Kids across the province will pay the price for overcrowded classrooms Speaker will the premier guarantee to all of us in this house that she will not allow any increases to current class size caps Yes, and I I'm not sure how many times I can say this my responsibility is for the funding The funding last year was 22.5 million. The funding this year is 22.5 billion. Sorry Last year 22.5 billion this time 22.5 billion. The number of students has actually decreased As the number of students in the system is decreasing when we hold the funding pot constant That means that the amount of funding per pupil is actually going up Now does every board get exactly the same funding? Of course not We have boards where the enrollment has gone down 25 percent Other boards where the enrollment's gone up 10 20 30 percent Of course the funding shifts around as the students go down in one board on another the total Thank you new pustin the member from kitchens center Thank you, mr. Speaker this question is to the minister responsible for the poverty reduction strategy Ending child poverty was a goal of writer and activist the late june call would The keep the promise campaign was established two years ago By friends of june to give children a chance to voice their experiences Aspirations and commitment to ending child poverty They've created videos practical resources for kids and teachers in 25 projects across canada and a website called Keep the promise dot ca which includes a very rich collection of print and video resources Ms. Callwood who came to be known as canada's conscience once said If any of you happens to see an injustice you are no longer a spectator You are a participant I believe that statement holds true today and should always guide the work of our government mr. Speaker Can the minister please inform this house? What kind of progress our government is making to reduce child poverty? Thank you minister responsible for poverty reduction strategy Well, thank you speaker and thank you to the member from kitchens center for the question and also for quoting my personal hero June call would I commend the keep the promise campaign for their work to engage children and their communities in the fight against child poverty Our government shares their commitment to ensuring that kids get the very best start in life Well, there is certainly much more to do speaker. We have made significant strides Since introducing our first poverty reduction strategy in 2008 And I know the member from hamilton stony creek will be very happy to know that at last count 47,000 children and their families have been lifted out of poverty And tens of thousands more have been prevented from falling into poverty member from hamilton East Stony creek last time on each of the eight Indicators including school readiness standard of living and birth weight speaker Under our new poverty reduction strategy, we're recommitting to reducing our child poverty by 25 Because our children are worth it. Thank you Thank you, mr. Speaker and thank you to the minister for her answer It's very encouraging to learn that we are making progress when it comes to dealing with the issue of child poverty Yesterday the keep the promise campaign hosted june call with children's day Featuring a colloquium in which students presented their campaign work to end child poverty in canada And they talked to elected representatives leaders and keep the promise volunteers on the priorities that lie ahead Students in grades five to eight were involved in a conference highlighting current issues Opportunities and profiling a child's perspective on poverty Which no doubt was an incredible experience for everyone involved Minister it's inspiring to hear that our government has re-infermed our commitment to reduce child poverty by 25 And we know that you and your team have been working very hard to achieve this goal Minister, uh, can mr. Speaker can please outline some of the other ways in which our government is tackling this very important issue Thank you Thank you speaker and uh, I'm very pleased to report that we're not taking a number of concrete steps that Will reduce child poverty beginning in july the ontarian child benefit Maximum and income threshold are both being increased index to inflation speaker raising the maximum benefit To $1,336 per child more than double what it was in 2008 and of course it did not exist before we introduced it speaker We've increased the number of student nutrition programs providing healthy meals to it an additional An additional 31,000 children and youth We've expanded eligibility for healthy smiles ontario. That means 70,000 more kids have access to the dental care that they need We're also committed going forward speaker to extending health benefits such as prescription drugs vision care Sister devices and mental health services to children and long-income families. Thank you No question Thank you, mr. Speaker. My question is for the minister of health and long-term care Minister one month ago. I asked you why my constituent mr. Jim lees Has to wait months for a bed in a long-term care facility I explained that he has gone back and forth Between the hospital and the local retirement home because the home cannot provide the care he needs As they are not a long-term care facility Not to mention that the family is paying thousands more each month than they would for nursing home care Well minister, it's been a month since I asked you that question And yet the situation remains exactly the same Still no beds. Mr. Lees is still in the same retirement home And he's still not receiving the care he needs In fact, mr. Lees fell last week and spent a couple of days in hospital because he was overmedicated Minister, I will ask you the same question. I asked you one month ago Will you help mr. Lees or is this yet another example of the health care seniors can expect under your government? Mr. Hope long-term care to the associate minister of health Associate minister of health Thank you speaker, and I thank the Member for his advocacy on behalf of his patient of his constituent And I want to begin by Reminding the member that as he well knows my office and his office has been working very hard on this case The ccac has been working with the family To make sure that the best possible care is made available to the resident And as he well knows having been a past minister of health, I cannot comment on the particulars of this case But what I can say what I can say is that Any ontarian who needs urgent care is placed on the highest priority list for our long-term care homes And is provided that level of priority care What I can also remind the member is that this government has made historic investments in long-term care In fact, we just the member ensured. We just reopened a new long-term care with 50 new beds over there So we're continuing to invest mr. Speaker. I want to assure the member that we really need to do everything we can Thank you Well back to the minister of health since I raised this issue. Mr. Lees has been offered six idle beds These are beds that were not on the list of the 12 nursing homes His family is selected and remember the family is only required to select three Homes and they've selected 12 One of those beds was in toronto. One was a way up north Two were not suitable for mr. Care mr. Lees Care needs and the others remain a mystery to all of us as the family was not told where these beds were located And I stated the minister I'm not sure how you expect a family to get agree to a nursing home bed that even your own ministry can't identify where it is Minister, I find it troubling that this man is classified as critical The highest priority and yet you can't find him a long-term care bed I don't believe you just opened this question We opened 20,000 new beds in our eight years. You haven't built a gosh darn thing in your 12 years Don't you think we need some new nursing home beds in this province? Thank you Minister Thank you, mr. Speaker I'd like to again thank the member for his question Remind him that I can't speak to the specifics of this case Happy to speak to him outside Also know that my office has been working very diligently with his office and that the ccac has been working very diligently with the family to resolve the issue But what I can say is that this government has been making significant investments in long-term care In fact, we've driven down wait times by 34 and get this mr. Speaker You know, we have driven down wait times by 34 but when the conservatives were in power They did not even they did not even measure wait times, mr. Speaker So I'm taking no lessons from the member opposite on this issue All I can say is we continue to invest in long-term care and we have we're going to be redeveloping 30,000 new beds over the next little while that's a historic investment in Answer Your first member from Simmons James May My question is the minister of natural resources and forestry Minister you will know of little john enterprises and timmons It's a second generation sawmill that's been operating our community for a number of years They have come to you They have gone to your ministry at the in the field in order to be able to get an allocation of timber All they need is 8,000 cubic meters of wood of popular So that they can continue supplying a niche market that they've created that is being supplied out of the mill in timmons I've gone to you they've gone to you We've asked you for more wood and you've written back to us and saying That they're essentially most of the resource has been allocated Well, mr. Speaker my question to the minister is this if you say that most of the wood has been reallocated Why is it that we're shipping 71,000 cubic meters of popular annually into the province of gebec and not supplying mills here in Mr. Nasser's Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. I want to thank the member for the question as he's As he's aware we have had a fair bit of back and forth on this particular issue In fact, I think it was before christmas that he first raised it with me or shortly after I came into the ministry I asked him to supply me with a note at that time going back to july or august or september of last year I never did at that time receive a note from the member on it So I never heard back from him. So i'm not sure how important it was to him Subsequent to that speaker the member came to me a little while ago He raised the issue of this particular operation and enterprise in his writing that he is concerned about I asked him at that time to supply me with some information which he did Somewhere like four five or six months after the initial conversation that we'd had in the particular topic Speaker, I finally did get the information specifically from the member We have responded to the member through a letter. I believe in fact I believe I've asked my staff to contact his staff directly to let him know the circumstances So speaker, we're aware of the issue finally. Thank you member with well speaker. I'll get more in the supplementary Well, that was uh, that was a lows of lows of I've seen in a long time the minister I say this We know that 71 000 cubic meters of wood of popular is being shipped out of ontario Shipped into the province of kebek at the same time That need that wood so my question to you is simply this Why should it be such a difficult thing to make an 8 000 cubic meter allocation the little john enterprises when we know We've got 71 000 cubic meters of popular being moved out of the province out of ontario and into the province of kebek Thank you I think the issue of wood flows into kebek are relevant and in fact for quite some time now I've asked my staff to get back to me with issues related to that and how it works And there may be a point in the not too distant future where we make some recommendations on that I would say wood has flowed into kebek for decades This is not new and in fact the number of people in ontario receive employment directly as a result of those wood flows Speaker but more specifically to the issue at the heart of the members questions Many smaller enterprises across the province have always Managed to find their wood allocation that's needed to support their operation through business to business relationships As I understand it the history on this particular enterprise is exactly that We have been supporting the efforts of the enterprise with the district m and r staff through them through that Answer to get some support for them to try and affect a resolution. I'm not sure why they haven't been able to resolve it It could be price. I'm not sure speaker. Thank you. That's obviously something that we don't have directly Thank you Thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of economic development employment and infrastructure As the minister knows our government must continue to improve accessibility In fact in my writing speaker the learning disabilities association of halton has done a great job of helping to meet the educational social And employment needs of young people and adults with learning disabilities Currently one in seven ontarians have a disability that number is expected to grow in the coming years Looking at employment 55 of canadians with disabilities believe that hiding their disability Increases their chances of getting hired and promoted Today the minister announced our government's accessibility action plan Would the minister please inform the house about our government's path forward to create an accessible question Thank you Well, thank you, mr. Speaker and as we reached a halfway point to the aodas implementation We have an opportunity to reflect and celebrate on the incredible progress We've made at the same time recalibrate on the path forward to our goal of Building an accessible ontario by 2025 if we continue to lead the country and we are mr. Speaker If we remain an international leader and we are mr. Speaker We need to drive a cultural shift across society to improve accessibility This morning. I had the privilege of announcing a series of new initiatives to reinvigorate the momentum That's needed to reach our goals of to be fully accessible by 2025 Mr. Speaker, we're going to work with employers to try to get there included in our initiatives Are a couple of new seed capacity funds including a community loans program and the partnership Accessible employment fund mr. Speaker. We're going to get to where we need to go and we're going to reinvigorate momentum in this Thank you supplementary Thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker I would like to thank the minister for the great job that he is doing and for that answer And of course for working so diligently on this very important file Now improving accessibility is not just the right thing to do for our society But it's also the smart thing to do for our economy That's why organizations like community living north halton Which is really a group that is working very hard and diligently day in and day out They work with community partners to offer support and services for people living with disability and they're so important We cannot afford to let any ontarians fall through the cracks mr. Speaker As I understand it provost moran has completed her legislature review of the accessibility for ontarians with disabilities Act this review was meant to be a guide with the minister Please inform the house on how provost moran's legislative review is helping to guide our path forward Mr. Speaker the second area of focus of our action plan involves adopting key recommendations of provo moran's recent review of the aod a As recommended by provost moran We're working closely with stakeholders to improve the legislation Including ensuring that the timing between reviews makes sense and the duplication between the two pieces of legislation Are also addressed in a number of different ways. We also can recognize that compliance really isn't where it needs to be So we need to continue to do work on the enforcement side So we're going to be implementing implementing audit blitzes where challenges present We're going to be enhancing the effectiveness of our of our enforcement programs for 2025 Our goal is 1200 audits. Mr. Speaker on the other hand, we know that businesses that champion accessibility That's not to be recognized as well We're going to be putting in place a series of initiatives to do just that to celebrate successes Government house leader on the point of work. Thank you speaker Speaker we had many partners who joined us today on an important announcement dealing with Reform of police the records check in ontario Please welcome jack lean tasca and michelle keys from the john hover society of ontario And camille quinville and opala chandra sakera From the canadian mental health association ontario division and other friends who joined us for the announcement. Thank you Members moxford on the point of work. Thank you very much, mr. Speaker mr. Speaker in the east gallery today our shelly rattle band Who works at my woodstock constituency office and her two daughters chelsea and britney? They're all here from the great riding the locksford and i'm pleased to welcome them to queen's park And i hope they have a great day here thank you We have a deferred vote on the motion of third reading of bill 91 an act to implement budget measures into an act in the Men various acts calling the members. This will be a five minute bill members. Please take your seats wavering On june 2nd 2015. Mr. Susan moved third reading of bill 91 all those in favor pay your floor eyes one at a time To be recognized by the court mr. Susan rise one at a time to be recognized by the court Mr. Hudeck mr. Hardiman mr. Hardiman mr. McLeod mr. Wilson mr. Wilson Mr. Clark mr. Clark mr. Miller parry sound the scope of miller parry sound the scope mr. Dunlock mr. Mcnaught mr. Mcnaught Mr. Jones mr. Thompson mr. Barrick mr. Barrick mr. Monroe Mr. Scott mr. Euras mr. Euras mr. Bailey mr. Bailey Mr. Hilli mr. Hilli mr. Walker mr. Walker mr. Smith mr. Smith mr. Harris mr. Harris mr. Nichols mr. Nichols Ms. Martel martel mr. Mcdonald mr. Mcdonald mr. Mcdonald mr. Pettipese Ms. Horvath mr. Horvath mr. Sane mr. Singh mr. Beeson mr. Beeson his arms strong mr. Gratsky mr. Gates Being 57 in the nays being 46 i declare the motion carried As is the convention no one interrupts a vote But i am standing to say that i am reminding all members that pictures are forbidden in this place There are no deferred votes this house stands recessed until 3 p.m. This afternoon