 It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the members who are to Mr. Minkowski. My question is to the Premier. Municipal leaders across Ontario have been speaking out against the forward government's cuts to everything from childcare, to public health, to flood management. Ministers in the forward government, meanwhile, insist that they want to have a respectful dialogue. But they also state that the cuts will proceed, no matter how reckless and poorly planned they are. How can the government claim to be having a discussion when it appears that all the decisions have already been made? Questions to the Premier. Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. Refer to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. We'll talk about the municipal issues, but I want to pick up on what the member said about a respectful dialogue. We need to address what happened on the lawn yesterday. Quite an event took place. The NDP had at least two members at a protest. A member from Davenport and a member from Windsor West. At the same time, mass protesters brought a bloodied guillotine to the grounds of Queens Park. And you know what they did? They beheaded an effigy of the Premier. This is disgusting and it is a sick act that has been condoned by the opposition. I am asking the members opposite to condemn yesterday's protest. Apologize for their attendance at yesterday's event. But it's important to know that this is the real NDP and we have seen it on the attacks against the Minister of Labour's office. Response. The accosting and attacking of me resulting in OPP protection for members of our cabinet. They care more about activism and protesting. We all know we have free speech in this legislature. We have certain privileges as members of the legislature to participate in debates. But the language and the comments have to be parliamentary. Considered to be parliamentary. I'm going to caution the members at the outset that the language has to be parliamentary. Or we will quickly have to go to warnings. And following that, of course the option of naming members is within the purview of the speaker. Going to have a question period today and I hope we have a reasonable dialogue on the issues facing the problems. Start the clock. Supplementary. Earlier this week, the mayors of Ontario's 28 largest municipalities pleaded with the province to reverse budget cuts to child care, public health, flood management and more. Smaller municipalities are speaking up as well. The town of Prescott has called on the province to stop cuts to public health and library services. The mayor of Dryden said his community has been treated like, and I quote, a financial punching bag for the province. End of quote. This doesn't sound like people or municipalities who feel respected. Will the government listen to municipal leaders, reverse these cuts and have an actual discussion about how Ontarians are being impacted? Questions have been referred to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. I'd like to refer back to the Premier. Questions referred back to the Premier. Well, through you, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Minister for her comments. You know, Mr. Speaker, I normally don't get concerned too much about the activist protests outside and on the front lawns of Queens Park. But we're here to represent the real people. The real people that can't afford to take the day off or can't afford to get paid to go protest. The people that are working in the back of the factories, the people that are working in offices across this province trying to make ends meet. Those are the people that we're here for. But yesterday went a little too far. My friends, when any time a politician, no matter what party does, has a guillotine out there, I think that goes a little too far. Matter of fact, it goes way overboard, Mr. Speaker. But the difference is that's what the opposition believes in, supporting folks like that. We support the people that are out in the factories and the offices trying to make ends meet, paying their taxes and wanting services. We start the final supplementary. The sad fact is the forward government doesn't want to hear from anyone other than obedience. Whether it's the acting Premier insisting that she's not even willing to consider pausing cuts to public health care, or the Premier taking out as a frustration on the man who beat him in Toronto's mayoral elections, the people of Ontario need different levels of government to work together. Instead, we have one side scrambling to bribe everything from school breakfast to flood protection, and a Premier who seems to ignore their complaints. How does that help the people of Ontario? Premier? Through you, Mr. Speaker. Do you know who got us in this position, Mr. Speaker? The NDP put us in this position. The Liberals put us in this position. With a $15 billion deficit. With a $347 billion debt. Largest in the world. Sub-sovereign debt in the entire world. That's who put us in this position. We're driving efficiencies. We're putting more money. $700 million more in the education. The Minister of Education is doing an incredible job. The Minister of Health is doing an incredible job ending hallway healthcare by putting $1.3 billion into healthcare, making sure that we have 15,000 long-term care beds. We're well over 7,000 long-term care beds. They worry about jobs. Again, the people in the factory, as I was speaking about earlier, Mr. Speaker, these people are working 10, 12 hours a day trying to pay their taxes, trying to pay their mortgage, trying to put food on their table. That's what people are concerned about. They want the economy to get going, and that's what this government is doing by lowering taxes, making sure we create an environment for companies to thrive and prosper. Thank you. Restart the clock. Next question. The member for Brampton Center. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Later today, the Ford government will be tabling legislation to begin their takeover of Toronto's transit system. And the Premier has made it clear that the plan is going ahead, no matter how much the plan has to say about it. If the province has already made up its mind, what are they hoping to accomplish with their negotiations in the City of Toronto then? Questions to the Premier? The great Minister of Transportation. Minister of Transportation. I thank the member opposite for that question. You know, last June, we won an election based on the fact that we would upload the TTC and expand service for all people utilizing the TTC and the GTHA, creating a regional integrated transportation network. Mr. Speaker, in August, we appointed Michael Lindsay as our Chief Special Advisor to negotiate with the City of Toronto on bringing the upload into reality. And in February, we signed a terms of reference, Mr. Speaker, that set out provisions of how we will work together with the City through discussions that will go forward. April 11th, Mr. Speaker, we announced $28.5 billion expansion for the City of Toronto in their subway system. There's a lot of people excited about it. And we need to make that happen, Mr. Speaker, and the legislation we're tabling today will enable the government to take over the expansion and growth of the TTC network. And we're going to continue those talks with the City of Toronto, Mr. Speaker. Supplementary. Again, the members for Brampton Center. Speaker, the City of Toronto has actually put forward 61 key questions about the Ford government's transit plans, including basic requests like how they arrived at their cost estimates and who was paid to prepare them. Has the province answered any of those questions? And if so, when do they intend to share this with the public? Minister? Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. You know, we will continue our negotiations with the City of Toronto like a Lindsay meets on a regular basis. I have conversations with Mayor Tory and everything's been positive. I'm not sure what's going on with the opposition. They're a little inconsistent in their messaging. Ones hand, they're saying don't download things. Ones hand, they're saying don't upload things. I don't know where they stand on any issue, Mr. Speaker, other than saying no, no, no to anything this government does towards balancing the budget and delivering great transit projects, historic transit projects to the City of Toronto. Mr. Speaker, we are in good conversations with the City of Toronto with regards to the expansions. We minister McNaughton Ministry of Infrastructure is in constant talks with the federal government. Hopefully they'll put the money forward to support our historic expansion of the transit system within this province. We'll continue the discussions with Mayor Tory and his staff, but end of the day, Mr. Speaker, the system isn't working for the riders of the TTC and we made a pledge to make it better and that's what we're going to do, Mr. Speaker. I'll supplement you. The people of Toronto deserve transit solutions that get them out of gridlock. We have plans and unwilling or unable to answer basic questions as they attempt a hostile takeover of the subway system. Instead of plowing ahead with a scheme that will add cost and delay Toronto's transit system, why won't the board government stop dismissing concerns that people are raising in this province and answer some key questions about their plan? Minister of Transportation. Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. You know, on April 11th we announced the historic vision that we see for the City of Toronto as we move to expand transit opportunities, Mr. Speaker. The people of Toronto have been waiting decades for the relief line to be built, but it only gets stopped because there's continual bickering and returning to the table year after year with different councils. They just can't get it done. The system isn't working, Mr. Speaker. What we're going to do is upload that responsibility to the province and we're going to get this job done. Mr. Speaker. All the way from the Ontario place up to the Ontario Science Centre, Mr. Speaker. We're going to build subways into Scarborough first time. Are those people been waiting decades themselves for a subway? Not just one stop, Mr. Speaker. Three stops and that's what the people deserve. Mr. Speaker, we're going to extend the Edmonton West. We're going to take it out underground into the Tobacco and hopefully join it up with the airport. And finally, Mr. Speaker, we are going to connect Richmond Hill and New Market to our subway system. We're going to get people moving in this problem. Next question. The member for University Rosedale. Thank you, Speaker. Today the Conservative Government is introducing its bill to begin the takeover of the TTC despite the fact that the province is still in negotiations with the City of Toronto regarding the upload. And there are numerous outstanding questions that the Premier has refused to answer. Mr. Speaker, how can the Premier claim to be negotiating with the city in good faith when he is going behind their back to push through this hostile takeover? Is someone going to respond on behalf of the Government? Minister of Transportation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can just reiterate what I just answered previously. We've been working with the City of Toronto since November with our special advisor appointed in August on working towards creating a new partnership with the City of Toronto in the province of Ontario. We both know the current system isn't working to get subways built in the city and we're stuck at gridlock. People aren't utilizing the transit system like they should because it's not offering the opportunities for them to go from point A to point B to get from home to work and back home and be with friends and families. It's just not happening, Mr. Speaker, and it's unfortunate the opposition party is pushing back so hard on this when the people of Toronto, the people of the GTHA and the city of Toronto, the city of Toronto is not getting built, unfortunately, and we are able to do it and that's why we're working with the City of Toronto through our negotiations, through our reference that we put forward to build and grow the TTC and create the integrated regional network that the people of Toronto and the GTHA deserve and, Mr. Speaker, it's going to be great news for the people of Toronto when this is done. Back to the Premier. Yesterday, the Minister of Transportation admitted that millions of dollars and months of work that went into the planning and developing of that line is essentially being thrown out and replaced with the back of the napkin plan cooked up by the Premier. We all know what happens when transit plans are ripped up. There's more delays, there's more uncertainty and it makes it even less likely that transit will be built. How can the Premier justify throwing out the city's work on the downtown relief line and the delays and additional expenses that are going to result? Minister. To the Premier. To the Premier. Through you, Mr. Speaker and to the local member from Rosedale. What an insult you just gave to all the bright minds of infrastructure Ontario, some of the smartest people in the world saying back of the napkin. You know, they came up with a plan leading the charge was the Minister of Transportation and MTO insulting all MTO, insulting all of that metro links. That could honestly, Mr. Speaker, run circles around anyone in the opposition when they talk about transit. They know what they're talking about. They know what a world class subway system is. They came up with an incredible plan and the crown jewel, the crown jewel is the Ontario line running from Ontario Place up to Ontario Science Centre and Mr. Speaker, actually running through a lot of the NDP I'm sure, I'm sure their constituents be more than happy to utilize the new subway system that the Minister of Transportation is putting in GTA. Order restart the clock. The next question, the member for Carlton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier of Ontario. For over a week now, we have been experiencing floods in many parts of the province, including my city of Ottawa. Our hard working first responders have been hard at work to prevent damage to communities and homes in coordination with our emergency management partners. And our government understands the impact and severity of the flooding and we take the safety of our communities seriously. I know that people in my riding of Carlton were reassured to see the Premier visit several of the municipalities currently under a state of emergency in order to see the conditions firsthand and to prevent damage to communities. Can the Premier please update the House on what measures the province is taking to respond to this ongoing situation? Questions to the Premier. Well, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the great MPP from Carlton, the absolute champion. I was up in Carlton, Mr. Speaker. You want to talk about a popular MPP. When I was up there, I went and visited a local MPP and I loved the MPP from Carlton. Incredible job. Do you know we love us as well, Mr. Speaker? We love the first responders and the military folks. Look at those champions up there. Absolute champions. I absolutely love you. You're one of the best teams in the world. Mr. Speaker, when I was in Ottawa, it was like the cavalry coming over the mountain when we saw the military. They were helping people because people in Ottawa were exhausted. I just got off the phone with Mayor Watson, making sure and reassuring him that he has the province support on anything he needs. Supplementary question. Thank you to the Premier for that response, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for your kind words and for visiting the Care Centre. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, while our government is hard at work responding to questions about the ability of Ontario's conservation authorities to respond to flood events. I'd like to read them a quote from Rhonda Bateman, the general manager of the Sault Ste. Marie Regional Conservation Authority. We are not going to cut the maintenance and flood control program. That can't be done. Perhaps a member from Thunder Bay at Ticocan was not aware that managing water-related hazards are part of the programs and services conservation authorities clarify our government's proposal to make conservation authorities more efficient and effective. Thank you. Questions to the Premier? Through you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I want to thank the MPP from Carlton. We went up. They're all All-Stars. You're right. Unfortunately, you don't have any. Anyway, through you, Mr. Speaker. Through you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, I talked to the Mayor of Ottawa. He appreciates the help from the Solicitor General, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, the Minister of Natural Resources. It's all hands on deck, no matter if it's Ottawa. Speaking to the Mayor of Huntsville, which I'm going to be heading up to Huntsville and Bracebridge and spoke to the Mayor of Muscoca Lakes, they're so grateful for our support. We're sparing no expense. Matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, we're putting $5 million additional dollars to protect the watershed up in Muscoca. Again, I'm traveling up there tomorrow, Mr. Speaker, to see firsthand how we're progressing. And once again, the first responders and the great military is up in Muscoca working their backs off. We want to thank them. Thank you. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. Question, the member for Davenport. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I want to start by again acknowledging all the amazing education workers and parents and trustees from the Toronto Catholic School Board here today. Minister of Education, Mr. Speaker, educational assistance, custodians, clerical workers, library staff and language instructors all play a crucial role in supporting Ontario students and keeping our community schools safe. Yet so far, we have at least 2,500 education worker positions in jeopardy because of this government's cuts to our schools. And that's just the beginning, Mr. Speaker. Will the minister set aside her talking points and admit that the government's radical changes to class sizes and cuts to programs will mean lost jobs and less support for our students? Order. Shelling slide, come to order. Questions to the Minister of Education? Well, Speaker, first of all, I would like to stand at this house and sincerely request the member opposite to absolutely condemn the actions of the protesters yesterday afternoon here at Queen's Park that she was with. I ask her to stand up and show some leadership and show some respect for the institution known as Queen's Park and show respect for the elected officials in this house. Her actions have been absolutely disgusting and I feel very strongly that we need to see leadership from this member opposite. She needs to condemn yesterday's actions that she actually was out observing and possibly participating in and quite frankly she needs to stand up and take responsibility for incenting this type of activity. Order. We start at the clock. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can see that the Minister doesn't want to answer the question but I'm going to go back at her. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is about more than numbers on a balance sheet. This is about the programs and the people who make our schools the absolute heart of our communities. This is about the services and the supports that help our children learn and thrive but this government's actions will remove of caring adults from schools. Shutter programs and courses and leave camp. Some of these students and workers are here in the gallery with us today because their international languages program is at risk. They deserve to know Minister will the minister reverse her education cuts and start investing in our kids. Member for Ms. Aguilentine Lawrence must come to order. The Minister for Children, Community and Social Services must come to order. Start the clock. Minister of Education replied. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker and I'm sure this is your house. I am sure you were devastated to see what different type of personalities have brought to this institution and to the students that are here in the public galleries today. I hope you understand that this is not the norm. This is not the norm. I am going to lead by example. I say this to all of you because we care for the community. I'm going to ask the minister to make her comments through the chair. I'm going to ask the member for Niagara Centre to come to order. Through you, Mr. Speaker to the people in the audience today in the public galleries and everyone watching we're going to get education back on track. We know educations are absolutely imperative to enhancing every single classroom in Ontario and we are going to stand by them and make sure that not only the GSN will be appropriately implied to enhance the learning environment in the classroom for teachers and students we're going to make sure the member next question start the clock the member for Aurora Oak Ridge is thank you speaker my question is for the Minister of Finance in our budget we made it clear that we're putting people first from day one our government has put the people at the center of every decision we make whether we're putting more money in people's pockets by reducing licensing fees providing relief for childcare expenses or giving a tax break to low income earners we will always focus on directly improving the lives of the people of Ontario our proposed changes to the state administration tax reflect this commitment once again could the Minister please explain how our proposed changes to the state administration tax put people first and provide support and compassion to Ontario families and individuals questions to the Minister of Finance thank you speaker and to the member for Aurora Oak Ridge's Richmond Hill last week we were pleased to join the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in Brockville to highlight the changes we're proposing to the estate administration tax our plan to make life easier and more affordable for the people of Ontario starts with giving people relief particularly in times of worry and grief when they need it the most that is why our legislation if passed would eliminate the estate tax and on the estates under $50,000 and provide a tax cut of $250 on all larger estates our proposed changes are about compassion respect for families and putting people first during a very difficult period in their lives we intend to provide relief for families during their greatest time of need their government should be working for them especially at this time not against them supplementary question thank you speaker and thank you to the Minister for his response it's clear that this is a compassionate thing to do and the right thing to do speaker I could not be more proud of a government that is supporting people in their most difficult times as part of our plan to put people first we're also making it easier for people to interact and work with the government the current requirements for filing this state tax are burdensome and unfair our government has put forward another step to support families dealing with the death of a loved one could the minister please explain how our government intends to make it easier to file this state tax speaker we intend to make it easier to file the estate tax returns by extending the filing deadlines if passed our legislation legislation would extend the filing deadlines from 90 days to 180 days so that grieving families will have more time to respond to the death of a loved one the deadline for filing amendments to the returns would also be extended from 30 days to 60 days the last thing a family should worry about after losing a family member is red tape and taxes unfortunately that is something the previous government backed by the NDP just did not understand when they change that our proposed changes back would offer compassionate support speaker to families during a very difficult times and we're also exploring options to include tax relief for charitable donations thank you speaker next question the member for Scarborough sub-class thank you speaker my question is to the Minister of Education yesterday we learned that 44 municipalities out of 47 will have their general allocation funds for childcare cut in 2019 general allocation funds pay for the day to day operating costs of childcare centers and subsidies subsidies to low income families with childcare costs spiraling at to as much as $20,000 a year for some families parents are at a breaking point trying to find affordable childcare so why is this government choosing to make cuts to childcare that will make life more expensive for families and parents well actually speaker I absolutely reject the promise that came from the member across the floor because quite frankly we're making life more affordable for parents across this province and you know we have to make sure that people watching through you speakers to everyone watching and listening today that what the member opposite was talking about was a one-time funding to clean up a knee jerk mistake that the former liberal government made you know they increased minimum wage by 20% they realized the disastrous impacts that that would have on daycares across Ontario so they had to put a bandaid on the the gouge they made in daycare through this $50 million fund and so I want to share with you speaker a quote from the Association of daycare operators of Ontario from what we can tell the $50 million in fee stabilization support was simply handed to municipal governments which then were left to develop their own systems for administrating it not only was the funding stream poorly designed by the liberal government in many cases it was extremely poorly delivered by the me thank you supplementary question thank thank you speaker back to the minister minister I think through the speaker I think we agree on one thing the Liberals did have a lot of band-aid solutions but you're taking it even worse you're taking it back even more and making it worse for families and definitely not making it affordable the government is also changing cost-sharing requirements for municipalities and eliminating fees up a stabilization funding all these cuts actually add up to 90 million dollars taken from our child care system this year speaker this government promised parents a tax credit that doesn't even come close to covering the cost of child care order they eliminate the funding that controls child care fees parents deserve so much better than this shell game well the minister commit right now to reversing these cuts and instead choose to invest in our child care for our future thank you I would like to share a little bit of advice to the member opposite stop the fear mongering because you're losing credibility within the sector because the Association of daycare operators of Ontario actually said it's important to put this news in the context of the recent provincial budget announcement about the care tax credit which is going to help 300,000 families the care tax credit is great opposition to order it's a simpler more child-centered approach to funding that helps almost every family with young children it gives parents more choices with very little added administrative cost and no municipal red tape next question the member for Simcoe Gray thank you speaker my questions to the Minister of Health and long-term care and I want to begin Mr. Speaker by thanking the Minister and the Premier and the Finance Minister and the government for the support of both the Alaston and Collingwood hospitals in the recent budget I understand fantastic and notwithstanding the two questions I'm about to ask you we are we are grateful this minister as you know Hospice George and Triangle and Collingwood continues to wait for operational funding for four of their 10 beds these four beds have been sitting idle at the direction of the Lynn and are not allowed to be used even if the hospice wants to fund the beds themselves minister does the government have any plans to fund these empty beds and if not can you please explain to my constituents why that can't be done at this time questions to the Minister of Health and long-term care well I think the member very much for the question and I want to assure the member and all Ontarians that our government is committed to supporting high quality palliative and end-of-life care services for anyone in Ontario who needs that services are provided by people across the province both in hospitals hospices home and community care settings long-term care in other places and that is why we were very proud to announce last year that our government is investing $33.6 million to move forward with 193 new hospice beds across the province which includes over 20 million dollars annually for annual nursing support and other support services that are required so the specific question that you've asked me about I understand is still under discussion with the ministry we will continue those discussions and we will have an answer for the people of your writing very shortly thank you very much supplementary question thank you very much to the to the minister minister Matthews house hospice in allison sent you a cost-saving analysis back in January to show the overall savings that investments in hospice care can have particularly with respect to community services Matthews house hospice not only provides residential care as you know for people at end stages of life they also provide community programs to help those who are not able to go to hospice this can include things like pain and symptom management and expanded pediatric and mental health supports the hospice wants to do more so will the government provide the additional funding so that the hospital can provide more community services once again minister there is no question that hospice care or home care also that can be provided in the home for palliative and end-of-life services is certainly more cost-effective than a stay in hospital it's also more patient-centered that's what we're doing with our transformation with our modernization of our health care service to make sure that we center care around the patients families and caregivers that's what we want for people who are ending their last days to be able to be in a non-clinical care setting home-like setting as much as possible if not in their own home with their family and friends around them and I want to really thank everyone who works in our hospices and the many wonderful volunteers that come forward to help them for their exemplary care they go to great lengths to make sure that people can spend their last days in comfort with the things are most familiar surrounding them including especially of course their family so we will continue those discussions with respect to those additional hospice beds in your community thank you very much the next question the member for Mississauga Erin Mills mr. Speaker my question is to the Honorable Minister of Children Community and Social Services we inherited a broken ontario autism program that left 23,000 children languishing on a waiting list a further 2400 children were waiting for a diagnostic assessment through Ontario 5 diagnostic hubs throughout throughout it all I we have listened to families who ask it for additional enhancements and we will continue to listen as our motivation has always been to ensure that every children with autism services support from their entire government mr. Speaker can the minister please tell the house how our government is listening and acting to better support all children with autism questions to the Minister of Children Community and Social Services from our party of course has been a strong advocate for the people of his community but particularly for children with autism so thank you very much my primary motivation has been and always will be to clear the 23,000 children who are languishing on a wait list and get that there so that they can get support from their Ontario government three out of four children were not receiving support that's why we doubled our investment into the diagnostic hubs and we provided choice for what parents what want to use in terms of supports for their children last night over 400 people participated in a telephone town hall to tell us how we can best approach a needs-based system with an additional 300 million dollars that was provided to us through the Treasury and by our Premier we have also over 200 people that have already or sorry over 600 people that have already applied to our online survey at Ontario dot CA forward slash autism and next week I'll be appointing an expert panel who will work directly with me and provide advice on how we can have the best Ontario autism program in the province's history supplementary question thank you minister for affirming your commitment to listening and taking action to support families of children with autism minister since day one you have been working tirelessly to support all families of children and youth with autism your work has reformed the Ontario autism program to provide funding directly to parents to choose the services that are right for them I am pleased to know that a full list of illegible services is now available online and has been expended to include speech language and occupational service I will continue to seek input from families in my writing of Mississauga air in most to help inform additional enhancement to the Ontario autism program mr. Speaker can the minister please explain why government launches those consultations starting off yesterday minister I'm very proud that we were able to not only increase the investment from 256 million dollars to 321 million dollars but then add an additional 300 million dollars so that we could go to a needs-based system and consult with the people who matter most that's mums and dads clinicians and those who work in the field that's why next week I'll be appointing the expert panel I'll continue to work with the Minister of Education and the Minister of Health as we leverage a whole of government approach to support those with autism the province of Ontario last week I was in Saskatoon with provincial federal and territorial ministers of social services and children and I added my voice to a call for a national autism strategy but I'm really looking forward to additional town halls we do have one coming up for northern and rural communities as well as for Francophone communities I encourage all parents who have children on the spectrum to participate in these telephone town halls and I invite all MPP's regardless of political affiliation to participate as well with their own roundtables thank you very much mr. Speaker my questions to the premier earlier this week the premier and the minister of finance took their partisan entourage down to New York City all expenses paid by the public when pressed about this issue both the premier and the minister refused to reveal who exactly went on the trip and how much it actually costs the people of Ontario if the premier is so sure that his expenses on this trip are above board why does he continue to stonewall the actual media and hide the cost from this legislature question is to the premier minister of finance thank you premier and thank you very much for representing Ontario so very very well in New York City it was an honor it was an absolute honor to join you in New York I know the investors and the companies who are hoping to move to Ontario heard the positive message that Ontario is open for business and open for jobs that you delivered at the all of the meetings that we had in fact a speaker over the course of the last two weeks Ontario who has our bonds out in the marketplace brought in 4.6 billion dollars of the 36 billion dollars that we need in our bonds and fascinatingly half of that money was in US dollars this is a huge success for the province of Ontario they are thrilled with the fact that Ontario is open for business open for jobs they told the premier and I that that we haven't heard a solid message like that from Ontario in 15 years restart the clock supplementary question very much well those investors also value a strong public education system and a strong health care system which you are currently undermining the yet untold costs of this trip are just the latest in a pattern from this premier of using public dollars for his personal priorities all while claiming that the province can't afford provide essential services to Ontario's in need the premier's claims that we don't have enough money to fund flood prevention in the midst of record flooding that we can't keep teachers in classrooms and that we have to start charging people for health care coverage but when he spends public money on himself he thinks Ontarians don't deserve transparency or accountability if the Liberals did this you would be crying out loud murder you need to owe the people of this province the facts on this issues thank you very much mr. Speaker government side come to order start the clock response minister finance thank you thank you speaker speaker we are borrowing 36 billion dollars this year so that we can have the money to put into health care and have that money to put in into education that's why we need to continue we raised between 20 and 30 percent of all of that money has to come from outside of Canada speaker and I can tell you that they heard a message that we are transforming we are modernizing we are digitizing government they heard the story of how you can go to a how you can go online now and get your driver's license and get your health card they saw that we're saving 33 and a half million dollars by doing that they heard that we're saving four cents on every dollar and that as it turns out we're saving almost eight cents on every dollar they love the fact they absolutely love the fact that we're returning 26 billion dollars in relief to families to childcare programs and through low-income tax incentives they said to us the situation is better now in Ontario than it was 10 months ago member for Waterloo come to order order restart the clock the next question is the member for Niagara West my question is for the Minister of Environment Conservation and Parks speaker despite the people of Canada making it clear in multiple provincial elections that they can't afford more new taxes the federal government moved ahead with their Trudeau carbon tax a tax that's going to raise the cost of everything the Trudeau Liberals may claim that their new tax will in turn put more money back in people's pockets well speaker let's be very frank anyone who tries to say that taking a tax will put more money in your pocket should have you thinking twice speaker it's been a full month since the imposition of the Trudeau carbon tax and I'm wondering if the minister can tell the house what the true cost of the Trudeau carbon tax is Mr. Speaker through you to the member from Niagara West thank you for the question and thank you for the great work you do representing your constituents Mr. Speaker the federal liberals have gone to great extent to say two things and to try to convince Ontarians of two things one is that the only way to fight climate change is with a carbon tax and we know that our made Ontario climate plan proves that that is not true the second is that a carbon tax will make people better off financially Mr. Speaker we learned some more about that this week the federal parliamentary budget officer confirmed Mr. Speaker that the Trudeau carbon tax will take six point two billion dollars out of the pockets of the people of Canada and Mr. Speaker confirmed that 90% of that is going to come from individuals from families not from big polluters Mr. Speaker the PBO findings in the PBO in his interview said when asked well how do we know that money will go back to the people of Ontario to the people of the provinces he said we just have to trust the liberals Mr. Speaker this is a party in Ottawa that promised the budget would be balanced by this year Mr. Speaker there's 18 billion reason thank you thank you thank you thank you Mr. Speaker many of my constituents already struggled day today with the cost of living even before this tax came into effect and now that it's going to be even harder for them to make ends meet this tax jeopardizes the future of our economy and our families prosperity I'm happy to be part of a team that puts the people of Ontario first with every decision that we make so speaker my question to the minister is whether or not this tax is going to hit our families where it hurts the most we see already this cost of gases rising the cost of home heating the cost of food speaker can you explain to the people of Ontario how much this carbon tax will really cost them Mr. Speaker and I thank the member I thank member first question let's be clear the carbon tax will raise the cost of everything Mr. Speaker the Parliamentary Budget Officer and I'm quoting him here I want to get it right confirm that a lot of the burden is going to file on final consumers and households Mr. Speaker 90% of the burger Mr. Speaker families and seniors on fixed him fixed incomes will have to pay more to heat their homes we've already talked about 27 billion dollar million dollars of costs for hospitals 20 million dollars for colleges and universities 3.4 million dollars for security services like the OPP and the people who support us Mr. Speaker Ontario doesn't need the Trudeau carbon tax we have a maiden Ontario plan that will make sure that we hit the targets that the Prime Minister said we're at 22% reduction emissions now we'll get to 30% and we'll get there without Justin Trudeau's carbon tax thank you speaker my question is to the Minister of Health and long-term care speaker this week the minister said that when her government removes out of country OHIP coverage Ontario should simply get their own insurance she stated that this can be purchased very inexpensively to cover medical needs well speaker Kathy Duval lives in London West and contacted me to say that she can't get private insurance she has reno failure and like many people with chronic kidney disease she requires hemo dialysis three days a week she said there are no insurance companies in Ontario that provide coverage for hemo dialysis because of a pre-existing condition speaker why is the minister forcing Kathy and others like her to pay entirely out of pocket for health care services if they must travel out of country questions to the Minister of Health and long-term care thank you well I certainly am very sorry to hear about Kathy's situation however I think it's also important to be honest with the people of Ontario about what this program first of all cost in the level of coverage that they would be getting this is a program that a third of the cost of the program was spent on administration that's not good value for taxpayers that's not good value for anybody in Ontario but the other issue to be considered here is this poor woman has a significant condition that she would only receive under the existing program $400 in coverage if she had a significant issue while she was out of that country order she would have thousands more in coverage in costs that would not be covered so it is really important that we speak honestly to the people of Ontario about what would have been covered and what would not have been covered $400 nothing compared to the cost that this woman could receive if she were having to be treated outside of the country Member from Windsor West has come to order supplementary question thank you speaker speaker refusing to reimburse out-of-country dialysis creates yet another hardship for people with kidney disease who are struggling to maintain some semblance of normal life the kidney foundation of Canada says that eliminating out-of-country OHIP claims will literally handcuff dialysis patients to their machines preventing them from traveling for personal professional or emergency reasons speaker the head the Canada health act guarantees that every Ontarian should have access to publicly funded health care whether they are at home or temporarily outside of Canada will the minister abandon her callous plan to deny OHIP coverage to Ontarians when they travel out of country government side minister well mr. Speaker through you I would say to the member opposite we need to be realistic about this situation if someone has a dialysis issue they need to receive dialysis treatment several times a week it's difficult for them to travel in any event so and the coverage that they would receive would be under this existing program would be nothing in compared to the cost that would actually cost them so we have to be honest with people of Ontario not give them false hope that when they travel they're going to have every single cost covered when it's only four hundred dollars to some of with significant renal problems needing dialysis there is a real concern that there might be something that go goes wrong when they're traveling it's difficult to travel and do dialysis I acknowledge that but to suggest that four hundred dollars is going to make a difference and allow them to travel that is giving people absolutely and I am not going to I have a responsibility as Minister of Health and long-term care and I'm going to fulfill my responsibility to the people of Ontario restart the clock the next question the member for Kitchener South and consumer services this past Tuesday the minister announced our government's digital plan for simpler faster better services the goal of this plan he explained is to modernize government services to improve service delivery I know Mr. Speaker that the constituents in my writing of Kitchener South Hesbler are very happy to hear this many of my constituents have had to deal with delays and birth certificate processing or have complained about how services are available online our government is dedicated to putting people back at the center of everything that we do and I know that this act will do just that Mr. Speaker could the minister update this house on how this plan will improve service delivery for all Ontarians thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I want to thank my Honourable Paul League the member from Kitchener South Hesbler Amy Street for her great work on behalf of her constituents answer this question I'm trying to use to banking and shopping online making restaurant reservations and buying movie tickets on our phones we're used to this because business recognized a long ago that bringing services online better meets customer needs unfortunately this is not the case for in churl for far too long out of date overly bureaucratic processes reduced quality of service delivered to the people of in churl as part of our two two thousand nineteen budget our government introduced a simpler faster better services act that if passed would significantly improve how government works its digital outlook and the services it delivers to the people and businesses of in churl digital first is not however mean digital only what we're doing is expanding access to meet people's expectations for service delivery across the province Mr. Speaker I'm sure I've been living in the digital age for a while now it's about time our government did the same thank you speaker and thank you to the minister I'm certainly looking for a devoting in favour of the simpler faster better services act and I know my constituents are very excited to see that the provincial government services will actually enter the 21st century finally as the minister rightly said far too many Ontarians are inconvenienced by the lack of online services and I know many of my constituents find it hard to travel in person to service Ontario locations when they need to renew a driver's license health card or register a new business I'm sure the minister would agree that by modernizing the way government delivers these necessary services Ontario will not only make life easier but make better use of government resources and talent as well as strengthening our commitment to making Ontario open for business Mr. Speaker could the minister provide the legislature with more details about the plan minister reply thank you mr. Speaker the member and I are in strong agreement on this topic the legislation introduced if the legislation introduced would if passed promote becoming digital first in three ways first it would enable adoption of digital practices across government improving all digital platforms to increase online use for service materials top 10 transactions it would eliminate outdated processes that prevent the delivery of people-centered services this includes the bad they've dated processes within service Ontario finally this legislation will last unlock high-value data while protecting Ontario's privacy to increase economic growth and prosperity for the people and the businesses of Ontario and to reassure those with poor internet connections or who prefer visiting service in person I want to say again digital first does not mean digital only our plan would protect brick-and-mortar locations and free up staff to focus their talents where they are needed most mr. Speaker there's no excuse for ensure to be stuck with 20th century processes in 2019 our government the foreign government is bringing government into the 21st century good answer the next question member for Thunder Bay out of coconut thank you speaker my question is to the Premier another day and another decision by this government to create business uncertainty the 50 million trees program was abruptly cancelled last month the owner of Milson Forest Service in Timmins Jenny Milson wrote to us to say that the program's cancellation has hurt her business it has caused her to lose orders for hundreds of thousands of trees she has talked to some of the other growers and they're all in the same boat millions of trees will be dumped and businesses will lose significant revenue not to mention the lost opportunity to grow our forests Premier why are you throwing Jenny and other business owners like her into chaos through you mr. Speaker talk about uncertainty we're giving businesses certainty we're given the forest industry the best stewards of the environment the opportunity and the support the plant 67 million trees but you know why we're doing this I'm looking up the stands of all these young people here behind me my friends go back and ask your parents they're working hard in an office they're working hard in a factory they're actually they're actually paying their taxes trying to put food on their tables trying to put their kids through education mr. Speaker that's why we're doing it we're doing it for the young people up there that want their parents to prosper they want their parents to have more money in their pockets we're protecting each and every single family order and I think it's a good time to remind all members to make your comments through the chair start the clock supplementary thank you speaker Premier your this question is to the Premier your decision to cancel the 50 million tree program will result in businesses losing money and millions of trees seedlings going to waste that's for certain what the young people of this province need is an environment that that will sustain them in the future the government continues to cause business uncertainty in spite of how much they pat themselves on the back and will the Premier reverse this bad decision and stop hurting small businesses and the environment Premier to reply Minister of infrastructure bird to the Minister of infrastructure here we are once again another question period almost every question that the NDP ask is a question defending the legacy of the liberal government under Kathleen win it's quite astonishing mr. Speaker mr. Speaker let's order clear the forest the forestry industry in the province of Ontario plants 68 million trees every single year in the province of Ontario and and mr. Speaker I know this isn't an issue that the NDP care about but as the Premier said we have lots of young children in the legislature today and you know what we care about mr. Speaker we care about their future we care about cleaning up the financial response left by the NDP and the liberals that's 15 billion dollar deficit mr. Speaker we're not going to put the debt on the backs of the young people of this prop house will come to order start the clock the next question the member for storm on Mr. Speaker my questions to the Minister of agriculture food and rural affairs agriculture agriculture plays a vital role in terriot economy as well as that in our neighbour Quebec in fact a terri on Quebec account for over one-third the 36% of Canada's growth farm income I was pleased to hear that Minister Hardiman and Quebec's Minister of agriculture fisheries and food minister left Lafontaine met with Seattle Canada just weeks to tour some of the vendors who produce the best food in our provinces Seattle's north bag is largest food innovation trade show and provided an excellent venue to discuss the opportunities for enhanced collaboration between Ontario and Quebec's agriculture and food sectors could the Minister please share with the House more details about the opportunities for innovation discusses Seattle Canada Minister of agriculture food and rural affairs thank the member from Stormont Dundas South Glendary for that excellent question through our governments open for business action plan and Quebec's own business action plan both provinces have committed to reducing red tape we're working hard to ensure that agri-business agri-food businesses aren't spending long hours navigating outdated duplicated and unnecessary regulations we also recognize our shared responsibility for plant and animal health emergency management admits many global concerns and threats these are top priorities for both our governments we will also ensure that the federal government delivers on its promise to full and fair compensation to alleviate the impact of the CUSMA on the supply managed sectors I look forward to working to work with Quebec the Quebec Minister to advance our shared interest and priorities for a successful and thriving agriculture sector supplementary thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the Minister for the answer I appreciate all the work all the hard work that he's been doing on behalf of Ontario's farmers and I'm pleased to be part of a government committed to working with neighboring jurisdictions to advance our agriculture and food sectors strong agriculture and food sectors create jobs increase investment and ensure our rural communities remain a great place to live work then to raise a family working together as partners we have a real opportunity to grow agriculture and food in this province and in both Ontario and Quebec both domestically and internationally can the Minister please tell us what our government is doing to strengthen our relationships to create good paying jobs in both provinces thank you again speaker and I thank the member for the supplementary question I will be meeting with Minister Lamontang once again in Quebec this July for the annual federal provincial territorial agriculture ministers meeting this will provide an excellent opportunity to build on the success of our meetings at Seattle we will work together on making sure the federal government and our counterparts across the country are aware of our shared priorities supporting our supply managed industries addressing agriculture's unique labor needs and creating farmer friendly business environment are all the priorities we share and will continue to advocate for I'm proud of the work our government has done so far and we will continue to work with our provincial partners to ensure agribusinesses remain viable innovative and competitive on the world stage thank you very much for the question that concludes the time we have for question period this morning a number of members have informed me they wish to raise points of order I'll start with the member for St. Captain's thank you Mr. Speaker at this time I would like to recognize the men and women from the Royal Canadian Navy that are here with us today at Queen's Park in six days on May 8th marks the 74th anniversary for the Battle of Atlantic which was a major part of our naval history of the Second World War thank you for all you do thank you for being here member for Toronto St. Paul's earlier this week during question period in the legislature I referenced a letter I received from a highly credible source concerning interlibrary loans which I have since learned may not have originated from the office of the member for Niagara West I want this house to know that although I profoundly disagree with this government's policy decisions and their heinous cuts to libraries I would never knowingly resort to fallacious information as the basis for question period Mr. Speaker I work from a place of truth and integrity it's the only way I know how thank you very much next we have the Minister of Education very much as speaker I would like to take this opportunity to thank the sergeant of our arms and her team for chasing down the individual that chose to deface this amazing institution that Ontario calls their home Queens Park thank you publicly to you sergeant of arms and your team the member for Peterborough Quartha thank you mr. Speaker I'd like to invite all the members to join the our Navy officers our Navy our Navy officers on the staircase for a photo in the question period for so interesting order 38 a the member for Davenport is given notice of her dissatisfaction with the answer to her question given by the Mr. Vichy education concerning custody education and increased class sizes this matter will be debated Tuesday May 7th 2019 at 6 p.m. so understanding order 38 a the member for University Rosedale has given notice of her dissatisfaction with the answer to her question given by the Minister of Transportation concerning changing transit plans this matter will be debated Tuesday May 7th 2019 at 6 p.m. so understanding order 38 a the member for Thunder Bay out of the we have a deferred vote on the motion for second reading a bill 100 an act to implement budget measures and to enact amend and repeal various statutes call in the members this is a five-minute bill ask members to please take their seats please take your seats on April 17th 2019 mr. Fidelli moved second reading a bill 100 all those in favor of the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the clerk mr. Fidelli mr. Fidelli mr. Walker mr. Thompson mr. Beckham fall for Mr. Ford mr. Ford mr. Elliott mr. York mr. York mr. McLeod mr. Harden mr. Harden mr. Tobola mr. Tobola mr. Barry mr. chapter hospitalized to part of mr Joe mr. Rickford mr. Mick Kenner. Mr. Nichols. Mr. Nichols. Miss Kusendova. Miss Kusendova. Miss Ramanh. Miss Gomari. Miss Hauga. Miss Houga. Miss Sikara Hallios. Miss Kara Hallios. Miss Fee. Miss Fee. Mr. Joe Willardale. Mr. Joe Willardale. Miss Croff. Miss Croffer. Miss Cagchic. Miss Cange. Mr. Picchini. Mr. Picchini. Mr. Cran. Mr. Cran. Mrs. Why. Mr. Anon. Mr. Anon. Mr. Rashid. Mr. Rashid. Mr. Sandu. Mr. Tany Gaston. Mr. Tany Gaston. Mr. Robert. Mr. Robert. Mr. Svawar. Mr. Svawar. All those opposed, the motion will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the clerk. Ms. Shaw. Ms. Shaw. Madam Jelena. Madam Jelena. Mr. Tabin. Mr. Tabin. Ms. Singh Brampton Center. Ms. Singh Brampton Center. Mr. Vantan. Mr. Vantan. Ms. Fyke. Ms. Fyke. Ms. Sattler. Ms. Sattler. Ms. Begum. Ms. Begum. Mr. Mamakal. Mr. Mamakal. Mr. Yarra. Ms. Gretzky. Ms. Gretzky. Ms. French. Ms. French. Mr. Miller Hamilton East Stony Creek. Mr. Miller Hamilton East Stony Creek. Mr. Singh Brampton East. Ms. Singh Brampton East. Ms. Andrews. Ms. Andrews. Mr. Hatfield. Mr. Hatfield. Ms. Taylor. Ms. Taylor. Mr. Birch. Mr. Birch. Ms. Burns McGown. Mr. Burns McGown. Mr. Arthur. Mr. Arthur. Ms. Bell. Ms. Bell. Mr. Glover. Mr. Glover. Ms. Morris. Ms. Morris. Ms. Morris. Ms. Morris. Ms. Morris. being 35, I declare the motion carried. According to the order of the House, dated May 1, 2019, the bill stands referred to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. This House stands in recess until 1 p.m.