 It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Appellation. Thanks so much. I appreciate that speaker. Good morning. My first question is to the Premier. Dr. Brooke Fallis, the respected head of William Osler's Critical Care Department in Brampton, was fired from his position back in January of 2021. The Premier was asked by media about his calls of complaint to the then CEO about Dr. Fallis' tweets. At the time, on February 2, 2021, the Premier said, and I quote, regarding these calls, 100% false. And it just didn't happen. However, recordings released by W5 clearly show that perhaps this is not, in fact, what happened. They show otherwise, speaker. So my question is, does the Premier still stand behind those statements today, considering that W5's evidence is clearly contrary to what the Premier claimed? Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. At the time of his claims, neither my office nor the office of the Premier had ever heard of this individual. And his claims remain categorically false. In fact, William Osler has already publicly acknowledged that at no time has the Premier's office ever given any direction or advice relating to health human resources at the hospital. Since the onset of the pandemic, our office has and has continued to rely upon the advice given by the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Moore, and by his advisors with respect to actions that they recommended be taken during the course of the pandemic and no one else. Supplementary question. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Health made the exact same claim, that they had, quote, never heard of him. But W5's FOI documents show the exact opposite, speaker. And the recording that was taken of the CEO of William Osler Health System, Dr. Naveed Muhammad, on November 16th of 2020, confirms that, and I quote, I've been warned a number of times that these guys in the government have a very, very long memory. These guys remember, that's the first thing we're afraid of. The first thing we're afraid of is what Dr. Muhammad was saying. He also said that, he said on this same recording, that the Premier of this province had called him multiple times. So the question is, does the Premier still stand by his claim that none of this happened, that he didn't call the CEO of William Osler Health System multiple times in November of 2020? Minister of Health. Thank you. Well, the Premier may have spoken with the CEO of the hospital, but they would have been about medical issues, pandemic-related issues, not to comments made by someone that none of us had ever heard of. The leader of the official opposition may recall, there were many doctors in many locations had lots to say about the pandemic. However, no action was ever taken against them because they are entitled to their opinion. However, the opinions that this government relied upon were the opinions of Dr. Williams and then Dr. Moore, and the other official advisers to our government. Final supplementary. Well, Speaker, hospital officials told Dr. Fallis that they were worried, that they were worried funding for other important health initiatives and projects would be at risk. They were feeling intimidated, apparently, and threatened, apparently. The hospital chief of staff, Dr. David Boertz, in fact told Dr. Fallis on November the 16th, 2020, and I quote, that's how these guys play the game. And whether you like it or not, they are the paymasters. You guys can be nasty in a way that you don't even know they're being nasty. This is what they're saying about the government, about the premier of this province speaker. So why would the chief of staff of the hospital believe the premier and his government, the paymasters, are being nasty if it wasn't because of phone calls from the premier to the CEO of William Osler? The minister of health. There is no reason for anyone to have felt intimidated because there were no actions ever taken. There were no discussions. And William Osler has already publicly acknowledged that there was no direction, no advice, none whatsoever by the premier of the province. And none of us had ever even heard of this person until he came forward with his allegations. As I said before, those allegations are categorically false, and the only advice that we have relied upon is the advice from Dr. Moore and his advisors, and that will continue to remain the same. Thank you. My next question is also to the premier. Well, maybe the minister of health might want to consider the fact that they're still afraid of what the government might do, which is why they're perhaps saying that these things didn't happen. But look, Dr. Fall has said very clearly in his latest interview that after he tweeted about the pandemic on November 5th, and I quote, the CEO had received a phone call from Ford who was upset about what I was saying publicly. That's what Dr. Fall has said. Multiple hospital officials said the exact same thing, Speaker. The hospital felt such political pressure that they hauled Dr. Fallus into a Zoom meeting over his tweets. They told them they were afraid that these guys were nasty. They said the premier had been calling. My question is, why would all of these people make this stuff up? I have absolutely no idea, because there were no communications. While the premier may have spoken with Dr. Muhammad, it would have been about issues relating to the pandemic, not about actions or tweets given by a certain individual. That is not something that the premier concerned himself with. He concerned about the health and safety of the people of Ontario. That is why we continue to rely on the advice of Dr. Moore and his advisers, the people at the public health measures tables and other places to give our government advice, which has served us very well given the state that we're in right now. We have relied on Dr. Moore's advice and will continue to do so because he and advisers know what they're talking about. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, on November 5th, 2020, Dr. Fallis was told that the premier of Ontario called the head of the hospital, of his hospital, to complain about his tweets. Dr. Fallis then got a cease and desist letter. He got a cease and desist letter from his hospital to stop tweeting. Yet the government, the premier, denies that any of this even happened. The question here is about the character of our premier. The character of this premier and what he himself has done. So my question is, why would the entire leadership of this hospital believe that they needed to muzzle Dr. Fallis? That's what they believed. They needed to muzzle Dr. Fallis, fearing that their funding would be at risk if there wasn't any political pressure at all to do so. It does not make sense, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to respond, the government house leader. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, listen to what the leader of the opposition is saying. She was saying that we were so upset that we wanted to take action. But you're right. We did take action. So what we did was we delivered a brand new hospital for Brampton. We were so angry that we decided we're going to give them a medical school in Brampton, Mr. Speaker. We were so frustrated that we said, why don't we give them better go train service in Brampton? We were so angry that we said, let's send them millions of dollars more for long-term care in their area, Mr. Speaker. What we were angry about is the complete failure of the liberals and NDP to ever deliver anything for Brampton, Mr. Speaker. Anything for Brampton. And that is what we have been doing since day one. Isn't it, colleagues? We've been delivering for the people of Brampton every single day, including a new hospital, long-term care, better education, better roads, transit, transportation, a medical school, a university. I think that's delivering for Brampton. She should get on board and work with us to deliver more. The final supplementary. Well, Speaker, it's very clear what the Premier of this province should do is admit what he did back in November of 2020 and come clean with the people of Ontario. That's what he should do. Everyone knows how this Premier handled the pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of people contracted COVID-19. Thousands and thousands of people lost their lives. Doctors speaking out against this government's terrible pandemic response should be heard. They should be heard, not fired, Speaker. Hospital CEOs should never have to worry that the Premier's vengeance is going to threaten their funding. So my question is, will the Premier do the right thing? Will he just come clean? Will he apologize to Dr. Phallus, to the William Osler Health System, to Ontarians? And not only should he apologize, but we're also asking that he promise to never, ever threaten the funding, the healthcare funding of a hospital hospital because he's unhappy. Because he wants to muzzle critics. And the government, I say this. Mr. Speaker, what the Leader of the Opposition is doing is really highlighting her failure. I think, look, this is a member who held the balance of power between 2011 and 2014. Did they do anything to help Brampton know? They said on stretch goals for insurance, and what did they accomplish? Nothing, Mr. Speaker. So what have we accomplished? A brand new hospital for the people of Brampton, Mr. Speaker. Of course, now they voted against that. They voted against it, Mr. Speaker. A brand new university for Brampton. How do they vote? Against it, Mr. Speaker. Millions of dollars in long-term care. How do they vote? Against it, Mr. Speaker. We've seen auto insurance rates come down in Brampton. How do they vote? Against it, Mr. Speaker. When you talk about the pandemic, there is no jurisdiction in North America that has done better than the province of Ontario because of the hard work of this Minister of Health, this Premier, Mr. Speaker, and this caucus who have never failed in supporting the people of the province of Ontario and especially the people of Brampton. Stop the clock. The House will come to order. Please restart the clock. The next question, the member for Parkdale High Park. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Ontario has finally signed on to the federal government's $10 day childcare plan at the 11th hour. I'm going to ask the government side not to do that again. I'm going to ask the Minister of Energy to come to order. I warn the Minister of Energy. Order. Please restart the clock. Member for Parkdale High Park has the floor. But will parents actually have a spot for their child? Experts say Ontario's target should be expanded by at least 150,000 spaces to keep up with the increased demand. The Premier boasts that he will create 86,000 new childcare spaces, but Speaker, that includes 15,000 spaces that were already created and 22,000 that are already in process. So the reality is it's only 50,000 new spaces, a third of the bare minimum Ontario needs. My question to the Premier is what will you say to the families when there are no childcare spaces for their children? Minister of Education. Well, thank you very much, Speaker. Mr. Speaker, unlike the members opposite, we didn't sign the first deal. We signed a better deal for the people of Ontario. And we are proud to stand in this province for the interests of families securing $13.2 billion, $3 billion more than what was initially offered, an additional year of funding commitment and, yes, 86,000 new spaces so that we can create access and affordability. We can finally make childcare affordable for Ontario families. Mr. Speaker, under this plan, there will be a 25% reduction on average retroactive to April. We will achieve 50%, a net cut to one of the most expensive childcare systems in Canada by Christmas of this year. And, yes, we will finally deliver $10 a day daycare by year 2025. It is a positive deal for families. It will deliver immediate relief. It will increase access and support our recovery as we move forward from this pandemic. Mr. Speaker, we're proud to work with the federal government to deliver a good deal for Ontario families. That's a supplementary question. Speaker, I can't believe the Minister is feeling pride for being the last province in the country to sign the deal. Even in their job and plan to create enough spaces, they still haven't done the work to ensure that those spaces can be staffed. To recruit and retain childcare workers, you have to pay them properly. After years of neglecting these workers with low pay and poor working conditions, Ontario has a childcare workforce shortage. Other provinces committed to a wage grid for workers. Without doing the same in Ontario, we will be in the same childcare crisis we've endured for decades. Why didn't this government commit to a wage grid and other basic improvements for childcare workers? Minister of Education. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Under our plan, under this progressive Conservative government and our Premier's leadership, we are finally cutting childcare fees for Ontario families. This year alone, families will save on average $4,000. That number will rise to over $12,000 in year 2023. These are significant savings at a critical time and an inflection point of our economy, trying to ref start our economy and move it forward. And to do so, to ensure women could re-enter the economy and enter the labour market, to ensure that families could not have to make the choice between childcare and going to work. This is good for the economy. This is good for women. It is good for all families. We should celebrate this progress as a parliament because what we have done today, working cross-party lines, inter-provincial leadership, working with the federal government to achieve something that families have dreamt of for decades, which is affordable childcare and access in communities across Ontario. Thank you. The next question, the member for Flamborough-Glandbrook. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and good morning. And my question is also to the Minister of Education. Speaker, in the province of Ontario, childcare costs rose to unacceptable highs during the Windelduka era. When we came to government, our government faced some of the highest childcare costs in the entire country. The Delduka Wind legacy of scarcity and unaffordability left many families in Ontario without childcare. But over the past few months, the Premier and the Government have negotiated continuously with the federal government to land the right childcare deal for Ontario families. Recognising the unique composition of Ontario's childcare system, can the Minister of Education tell us how this government secured a more affordable and sustainable childcare deal for Ontario families? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the member from Flamborough-Glandbrook for her leadership in this parliament, representing the people of her community while demanding that the federal government steps up their investment. And in this deal, we have achieved that with more flexibility, a sustainable programme in funding that actually gets us to $9. The contrast between the Liberal Party and the Progressive Conservatives is that you would have accepted the first agreement... Demonstrably would not have got to $10 a day by year 2025. That just is a matter of fact. So much so that the federal Liberals accepted that premise and they allowed us to take five years of funding now allocated in four years to increase the per-year investment by $600 million to get to $10. Now, Mr. Speaker, what we have done is we have preserved parental choice. We respect that parents make the best decision for their families, their kids. It's why we fought to ensure inclusion for for-profit childcare. We fought to ensure more monies on the table, a longer deal, a good deal for the people of this province. Thank you. I want to thank the minister for working tirelessly to get this great deal for Ontario families. Members of the opposition have often tried to pressure this government in deciding any deal for Ontario families. But we know that children and parents deserve a deal that will make childcare more affordable for decades to come. Ensuring a long-term, sustainable deal that reflects the heavy investments already made by this province in childcare is essential. The opposition kept asking the government to sign the first deal available. So, Speaker, will the Minister of Education tell this house what he was able to secure for Ontario families by holding firm and standing up for Ontario families? Minister of Education. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I mean, what we believe in this parliament and this party as progressive concerns is to protect parental choice. And what we have done, what no province has done, is protect for-profit and non-profit childcare for parents to choose where they send their kids to be provided with care. We've also ensured a longer duration of a deal. The only province in this federation to secure six years of investment, $4,000 more added to this deal and complete flexibility to move the dollars year over year to where it counts to get the $10. This is a monumental step forward when it comes to financial relief for the people we serve. Mr. Speaker, $4,000 of average savings this year, $12,000 by year 2023, $10 by year 2025, $86,000 more spaces, $14,000 more EC workers. We are restoring hope. We are providing relief and we're getting our economy back on track. Next question. Thank you for the premier. Speaker, the government has tried to eliminate the regulatory college of the traditional medicine, Chinese medicine with Bill 88. When thousands of Ontarians rose up in opposition to this short-sighted move, the government backed down and said that it would help with the college to address the concerns that they had heard. But the government has not appointed enough members to the board of the college for the college to actually be able to carry out the tasks that are needed, the task that the government said are needed. When will the government appoint members to the board of director of the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners in Acupuncturists so that they can fulfill their needs? Thank you. Thank you very much to the member for the question. It is very important to many people and we, you will know our government is working to try and get more people working by reducing regulatory barriers to support individuals who do practice traditional Chinese medicine. And one of the problems in the past was that many people were not able to write the exam in English that is something that we agree with and that is something that we are moving towards. We are moving forward with these appointments and I would expect that we will have people in place within the next very short while in order to deal with this issue to allow more people to practice traditional Chinese medicine and for people to access it across the province. Supplementary. Thank you. The people practicing traditional Chinese medicine in Ontario need commitment from this government to ensure that their title is protected and that their skills are recognized. People like Anne from San Jacob said and I quote it is also important to me for Chinese and acupuncture practitioners to be regulated by a reputable overseeing body at college. Knowing that they are being held accountable to a college I am confident in receiving treatment otherwise I likely would not be willing to do this services. These registered health professionals are also small business owner. Businesses who need reassurance to be able to operate. What assurance will the minister give us that enough member will be appointed to the board of the college of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists before the June election to ensure that these professional and their patients are not left in limbo. Minister of Health. Well thank you. We recognize that many people will rely on the college to regulate traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. Four new public members will be added to the board of the college of the traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists of Ontario and upon approval they should be able to join the board by the end of this week. Next question the member for York Centre. I would like to thank the minister for his contribution to the premier paying for partisan election ads with money of a political party is protected by freedom of expression but running what are clearly partisan ads using taxpayer dollars undermines democracy. This premier who prides himself in respecting the taxpayer is running taxpayer funded government ads telling us that Ontario's economy is getting stronger and the premier campaign against taxpayer funded partisan ads he attacked the liberals unchanging the rules but indeed the premier turned out to be a liberal. My question to the premier is it appropriate to use taxpayer dollars to advertise that our economy is getting stronger eight weeks before an election. And to respond Government House Leader. Really the problem that the member has over there is that he is getting stronger he's upset of the investments that we're making across the province of Ontario. So look we're just coming out of a very challenging pandemic a pandemic of course that the member denies even exists Mr. Speaker and we are ensuring that the economy is back on track and we're letting everybody know that the economy is back on track look the minister of economic development job creation and trade just announced one of the biggest investments in Ontario history when it comes to job creation 2,500 new jobs thousands of additional jobs that will accompany this enormous investments Mr. Speaker and that's because of a strong stable progressive conservative majority government Mr. Speaker now look there will be an election of course on June the second I'm happy to hear that the member won't be running Mr. Speaker I know he'll be busy on a leadership campaign it is troubling that he uses this house this house and the resources of this house to campaign federally I suggest that he maybe should not do that but Mr. Speaker we're going to continue to make sure people supplement your question Speaker we went through a very serious pandemic but also this government caused a mental health pandemic an unemployment pandemic an overdose pandemic and miss cancer surgery pandemic miss and delayed surgeries pandemic Speaker voters are often upset that the house leader or ministers do not answer the actual question I'd like to quote your predecessor who said it's not called answer period it's question period when the house leader spins or does not answer my question he tells the voters that he has no answer but when he makes it personal especially after the supplementary question so I'm unable to respond he demeans the voters of York center the voters of Markham Stovel all voters and this institution the house leader consistently demonstrates that he's intellectually bankrupt but he's a mean spirited bull going to ask the member to withdraw draw 60 seconds as he had 60 seconds please conclude your response start the call but unlike the members of his caucus I'm not afraid of him so I'll ask him again why did the government why did the government break a promise to reform advertising rules okay member will take a seat this government house leader wish to reply that was a balanced question was it Mr. Speaker I'm pretty confident that people of Markham Stovel are being represented well Mr. Speaker but ultimately I'm not afraid to put my name on the ballot on June the 2nd and let them pass judgment on whether I'm doing a good job or I made a commitment to the people of Markham Stovel to deliver for them and I think that's what I'm doing because I have all of these great colleagues behind me who are helping me deliver for the people of Markham Stovel I suggest the reason why the member got so personal over there is because he's maybe missing delivering what we can deliver but I tell you what the people of him is writing know that on June the 2nd they'll finally have another member sitting with us on this side of the house and we will continue to deliver for them Mr. Speaker so I'll let them get all mean and nasty what we'll continue to do is work on behalf of the people of the province the house will come to order the next question the member for Oxford very much Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker on behalf of the people of Oxford I'd like to ask a question to the Minister of Infrastructure Mr. Speaker for too long the people businesses and farmers in southwestern parts of the province have been without reliable internet connections they need for their day to day lives Mr. Speaker I have been paying attention to debates around Bill 93 to know that little has been said by the official opposition on high speed internet in southwestern Ontario and they seem to be more concerned with connecting the province in northern regions I know unlike the opposition our government is concerned with connecting all parts of the province and not just the particular regions Mr. Speaker through you would the Minister of Infrastructure tell us how this funding will benefit the people of southwestern Ontario oh good question the member for Brampton west thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the great member from Oxford that for that wonderful question Mr. Speaker our government knows how critical access to high speed internet is for families businesses and farmers alike this is the only 4 billion to bring high speed internet to every corner of the province by 2025 Mr. Speaker this is the single largest investment by any province by any government in the history of Canada Mr. Speaker through our partnership with the federal government we're bringing over 6 million to support high speed internet connectivity to 1191 homes and businesses across rural communities in Oxford County Mr. Speaker this will ensure that we have access to the reliable internet services they need to learn work and compete in the marketplace and boost economies this is just one of the ways our government is addressing the needs of our communities and supporting the people of southwestern Ontario thank you Mr. Speaker and I look forward to the supplementary question thank you very much Mr. Speaker and thank you to the PA to the Minister of Infrastructure for that great response to the government that is so dedicated to connecting Ontarians to critical infrastructure and building the province this funding will go a long way to improve the lives of my constituents and ensure that business owners and farmers have fair access to explore new markets expand their services and conduct their day-to-day business with ease I know our government has been working day in and day out to ensure our municipalities have the finances they need Mr. Speaker through you with the Minister of Infrastructure please provide some additional information on how we are supporting the infrastructure needs in Oxford and in the great province of Ontario thank you Mr. Speaker the member is right to say that we are working diligently to build Ontario and support our local municipalities in fact in our fall economic statement we doubled our OSIF contribution by one billion bringing the total investment up to two billion over the next five years this funding will ensure our municipalities have the funding they need to repair and replace their critical infrastructure such as roads bridges wastewater and drinking water systems Mr. Speaker through this funding our government is providing our 8 million to support 206,000 residents in the Oxford district with safe and accessible public infrastructure this includes our five million in funding in Oxford County and more than 1.2 million for the city of Woodstock Mr. Speaker by investing in these infrastructure projects our government is saying yes to creating more jobs saying yes to increasing economic growth saying yes to attracting more investments and Mr. Speaker saying yes to making our province communities the best place to live and grow the next question the member for Toronto St. Paul thank you Mr. Speaker this question is for the Minister of Health in 2019 my constituent Margaret Lonesca was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer that same week she also found out she was pregnant since then Margaret has been prescribed a cocktail of treatments and medications some of which are taken in clinic others are take home even with a patchwork of coverage Margaret still pays over 10,000 per year for cancer treatment and it was 13,000 and she's going to take these for the rest of her life she's not alone this is the case for thousands of people diagnosed with cancer across Ontario and without investment means they face a lifetime bill of hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep themselves alive and healthy my question to the Minister while we the Ontario NDP have long called for 100% coverage of take home cancer care drugs will this government finally say yes to publicly funded universal at home cancer treatments so those diagnosed can live healthily without the financial burden attached thank you Minister of Health I thank the member very much for the question I'm sorry to hear of Margaret's ill health however we do have provisions in Ontario for people who are unable to afford coverage or who do not have coverage programs under the Ontario Drug Benefit Program and the William Foundation benefits that they can apply for to receive assistance in order to be able to pay for care for cancer or whatever other issue they're dealing with supplementary question thank you Speaker my second question is back to the Minister of Health given that breast cancer impacts predominantly women the financial burden passed or faced by those diagnosis even higher as they have yet to meet economic equality in this province of Ontario in 2022 this was made worse through the pandemic which you know Speaker disproportionately impacted women therefore as we speak of an equitable recovery and a just recovery in this province in the days coming up as we're waiting to see the spring budget I am asking again my question to the Minister of Health to the Premier once again to the entire Conservative caucus is will this government commit to 100% universally funded take home cancer drugs to ensure that women and anyone who's experiencing cancer can survive can be healthy without the financial burden will we see that in the spring budget thank you Speaker Minister of Health well thank you we recognize that many people do have financial difficulties in paying for some of the drugs and medications that they need however we already do have programs for those people in Ontario under the drug benefit program and under the Ontario Trillium program so to have universal coverage is not something that we're looking at right now we may in the future however we do have that assistance in place for people who need that assistance so that they will be able to access the medications that they need both now and in the future the next question member for Glen Gary Prescott Russell thank you Mr. President Mr. Speaker throughout this entire pandemic the tourism sector has always been first to close and last to open on September 27 of last year the Minister for Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries touted the tourism recovery program to help Ontario's tourism industry now six months later not a single penny of the promised 100 million dollars which is finally frankly not not even enough has gone into any applicants pocket despite being told that they should expect to start spending that money on April 1st Mr. Speaker will the minister guarantee that eligible applicants will receive the much needed funds by April 1st and to apply the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries yes and the supplementary question thank you Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the minister for that answer and I have I trust that it is true Mr. Speaker since 2003 long before this government came into power in 2018 tourism receipts in Ontario from overseas have increased by almost 183% and tourism receipts from the US increased by a little over 27% and what does this government do it cuts tourism funding in 2019 we here on this side of the legislature we know the importance of supporting the tourist sector and now more than ever as many of its small businesses were affected by the pandemic that's why we're offering a two year tax holiday under our plan along with many other measures to support small businesses Mr. Speaker is this government going to support the tourist sector or is the plan to wait until enough businesses close so they're no longer eligible for help Mr. Carter this is a bit rich the only people talking about tourism for the past two years in this legislature is the progressive conservative party I personally have done over 90 announcements I've held 40 four round tables I've done 162 tour stops which is more than every single member in the opposition member for York centre will come to order restart the clock having to interrupt the minister when I was bringing in the Ontario largest of its time building of $105 million who voted against it the Liberals when I brought in the ReConnect Festival and we brought it from 19 million to 50 million who supported progressive conservatives who voted against it when we brought forward the staycation tax credit of $270 million who supported it we did who voted against it alright I'll have another one this tourism recovery program that they have the audacity to ask about $100 million who voted for it we did who voted against it Mr. Speaker I will take no lessons from an absent minded opposition who has been focused on one thing and one thing only themselves while this party has been focused on order question member for Whitby well thank you speaker my question is for the fellowship minister of transportation after four years as transportation minister Stephen Del Guca did not get a single shovel into the ground on any new subway lines in the great of Toronto area Del Guca when Liberals were more concerned speaker about building bridges upside down and building unsuitable ghost stations Del Guca is on writing the side of the house has to come to order member for Whitby has the floor thank you now speaker Stephen Del Guca is in action led to even more congestion and overcrowding member for Ottawa south come to order member for Whitby has the floor thank you speaker Stephen Del Guca is in action led to even more congestion and overcrowding on the young university line where people are getting their commute packed in like sardines due to the previous decade of liberal unwillingness to expand Toronto's transit speaker with the great of Toronto area becoming home to another million people in the next ten years people need to get in and out of the downtown core so they can get to appointments recreation and of course back home to their families speaker can the associate minister of transportation please tell the minister of transit is actually building transit for the great of Toronto area thank you the associate minister of transportation GTA thank you speaker that is an excellent member with an excellent question this morning and I'm glad to let him know that while Sunday was cold our spirits were warm because we broke ground on the Ontario line at exhibition stating the Ontario line is the crown jewel of our historic 28 and a half billion people are promised to deliver transit relief to Toronto's core stretching from exhibition to Ontario sign senator the Ontario line will stimulate 11 billion dollars in the local economy support over 4,700 jobs during the construction cut crowding across Toronto's transit system and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 14,000 tons annually speaker for 15 years the Liberals and the NDP coalition said no to delivering any sort of downtown on an over crowded and antiquated subway system speaker finally after decades of inaction from the opposition our government is getting it done thank you speaker and thank you to the associate minister for your response and the terrific news for the people of the great of Toronto area speaker I'm pleased to hear of this game changing progress from this government that will finally expand transit for Toronto's downtown core speaker while the Ontario line presents a tremendous opportunity to expand transit it needs to be built the right way especially after 15 years of the Liberals and NDP twiddling their thumbs instead of getting shovels in the ground can the associate minister explain what this government is doing to ensure that this transit project will be built in a way that truly benefits our hard working taxpayers the associate minister thank you speaker that's a valid concern from the member Stephen del Ducal Liberals voted against our governments getting Ontario moving act and building transit faster act in other words speaker the Liberals said no to building the Ontario line no to reducing gridlock no to community benefits no to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and speaker they said no from point A to point B then there's the NDP flipping and flopping like a barrel full of wet fish the NDP demands more transit more jobs but the NDP said no to the Ontario line no to keeping good I'm just going to caution the member on his land ask him to complete his answer speaker the NDP changes their minds a lot and they say no to Canadian jobs no to the Ontario line no to keeping those good paying jobs in Canada and in Thunder Bay because they just want 25% Canadian content well our government is moving forward with 75% Canadian content in the Ontario line 90% of which will be made right here the next question the member for St Cath thank you speaker my questions to the premier in Niagara one of the most concerning things we are seeing post-pandemic is that the quality of long-term care as we are still in a full blown staffing crisis premier as you are aware the councils on aging across Ontario point out that four hours of resident care per day is the single most important pillar to the transform long-term care and cannot wait until 2025 in fact last October the family council of Niagara regions eight long-term care homes wrote to you about this it included hundreds of signatures of residents and their families speaker my questions to the premier we cannot keep ignoring the concerns from seniors their families and keep kicking four hours of care down the road to 2025 will this government admit their plan for four hours of care is too long and commit to more immediate funding today government well sir Mr. Speaker the short answer is yes because like in the members own writing I have actually committed to 20 million dollars for more staff now now unfortunately for the people in her community she voted against that Mr. Speaker I'm sure you're concerned as I am that the member voted against that now it's not just about staffing obviously Mr. Speaker because one of the things we did here as well is that they need new more modern facilities and that is would help so I actually announced a new allocation of 13 new beds and 226 upgraded beds in a brand new facility wait for it wait for it in the members writing and the member voted against it Mr. Speaker they voted against it so I'm not going to listen to the member and you know I'm going to continue to provide more funding for long-term care thanks to this caucus thanks to this Premier thanks to a strong stable progressive conservative majority government will be doing it well into the future thank you Speaker back to the Premier may I remind the minister though that or the deputy house leader that beds don't operate on their own they need people to operate on their own without this resignations by and full that come across the desks of long-term care homes every day in Niagara these are professionals that got into this work because they love their jobs the seniors they care for and families to them they are families to them however they are burnt out Melissa Mathens the president of Niagara QP local is someone with 18 years of PSW she has an offer to this government come down and do it for one day in Niagara because if you are not front-loading four hours of care then you are not fixing the long-term care for seniors through you Speaker to the Premier will you take up this offer and come to Niagara for one day and let our frontline staff in Niagara show you why your plan is moving way it's not moving fast enough and is way too slow Mr. Speaker now we knew back in 2018 before we actually took government that we had to make investments in long-term care unlike the NDP who held the balance of power between 2011 and 2014 and didn't make it a priority before we were even elected we said we had to make it a priority and we've made the commitment to move to four hours of care and we're not just making the commitment like we hear so often from the members opposite we're actually putting dollars behind it now I talked about the 20 million in the members own writing but it's 78 million dollars for Niagara 78 million dollars for more staff in Niagara that is an incredible amount of funding it's not something that we should look we're providing the funding but it's people's money but you know why we're doing that mr. Speaker because the people who helped build this province deserve a better quality of care better than they got from the Liberals better than they got from the NDP Liberal Coalition and we will deliver it mr. Speaker for them and for all members for York Center question to the Minister of Children and Social Services Autism Awareness Month begins this weekend one of the most shameful legacies of this government is a handling of children with autism lives of tens of thousands of children could have been significantly improved with evidence-based treatment but the government froze the 23,000 waitlist in early fall 2018 and then decimated the Ontario Autism Program the OAP it's retreated under pressure but because of politics failed to adopt my autism plan which was in fact endorsed by the Ontario Autism Coalition instead of paying for treatment and moving with the list for almost four years this government has been consulting and working to get it right four years to get it right meanwhile we have a lost generation of children with autism the government pays for trampolines and bureaucrats they call coordinators but four years later they still refuse or unable to pay for needs-based treatment will the minister explain how is it that we still do not have a functioning Ontario Autism Program thank you speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question our government is absolutely committed to making sure that children with special needs and with autism receive the supports that they need and that's exactly why we doubled the funding from 300 million to 600 million the previous government did not address the capacity needed to create the programs necessary for the children to receive their care that's why we have provided capacity grants to enable that the providers to be there to provide the service for the for these children that's why we have five times as many children enrolled in a multi pathway comprehensive needs-based system for our children with autism in this province and that's why we've invested in the advisory partner panel in the integrated intake that will respond to the need with care coordinators this is beyond anything the Liberals ever did they talked a lot but they didn't provide the services care coordinators do not provide treatment they bounce families around speaker only this government could double the budget and deliver less services it's their version of efficiencies it would be funny if it wasn't so tragic for so many families and so many children paying for treatment is not just the right thing to do because it can materially improve the life of a child it's also the fiscally prudent thing to do because you save on support programs down the road four years later and we have 600 kids in a pilot program that's it the premier said that autism families would not have to protest on the front lawn so why did the wait list more than double from 23,000 to 55,000 children and when can families expect a functioning needs based Ontario autism program when for Hamilton Mountain come door the response minister children community and social services thank you speaker to opposite we are in fact on track we have approximately 40,000 children that are receiving multiple multiple services and the opposition mr. Speaker had the chance to support children with special needs and with autism and they said no they said no to the children who be served by the grant at the Grandview Children's Treatment Center in Ajax and they said no to the children who'll be served by the Chatham Kent Children's Treatment Center and their families and they said no to the children who were served by the one door for care Chios Integrated Treatment Center in Ottawa they said no over and over and over again and they voted against the largest investments of our children with special needs including autism in two decades they voted against these investments not once but in two budgets mr. Speaker our government is committed to supporting children with special needs we are putting programs behind our talk much more so than the previous government ever did leaving children languishing on the list with no hope of ever receiving the care for a York Center come to order and the minister will conclude her answer and thank you very much thank you very much speaker my questions to the premier it was recently became a public news through a cbc article that the government is working on a plan to sell clean energy credits to companies wanting to lower their carbon footprint but environmental groups say this would do nothing to reduce Ontario's carbon dioxide emissions Brian Purcell the VP of policy and programs for the atmospheric fund set of the plan and I quote whether they know it or not companies would be buying a credit that does nothing to reduce actual emissions in real life and just simply allows them to claim a lower carbon footprint this pretty much sounds consistent with this government their overall approach to tackling climate change allowing it to spin out of control without having the courage to actually address its root causes they go on to say that this plan has and I quote fundamental flaws that undermine any environmental benefit speaker can the premier or the minister just admit that this is a scheme to make companies feel better about their carbon footprint rather than putting in place real incentives to reduce it thanks very much beaker I'm glad I got to stick around and answer this question this morning thanks to the member opposite as well when it comes to the clean energy credit program mr. Speaker this is a voluntary registry that's been created unlike what the previous liberal government created and what was supported by the previous NDP third party it was a cap and trade program which was actually a carbon tax by another name that was driving businesses out of our province mr. Speaker the liberals didn't do much right when they were in power but one thing they did do when they created the green energy act mr. Speaker was allow for credits to be sold to companies that wanted to purchase them now they never acted on that which would have been the smart thing to do but we're doing that mr. Speaker and what we're going to do is allow these companies to voluntarily purchase the credits and then we'll get the money for that mr. Speaker which we're returning to the customers so their electricity bills will be lower doesn't that make perfect sense mr. Speaker it took a conservative government to figure it out though thank you supplementary glad you got to stick around too for that answer because actually you're going to be driving up carbon emissions your plan is actually worse than the liberal plan mr. Speaker mr. Speaker I would expect nothing less than a response like this from the government this is a government that wasted 30 million dollars on a failed Supreme Court challenge over the federal government's carbon tax they slash funding for indigenous conservation efforts and significant environmental initiatives this is a government that don't even follow the province's own environmental bill of rights Lana Goldberg the climate program manager at the environmental defense has also dismissed this credit system stating that and I quote it allows companies to claim credit for existing clean electricity generation resources instead of actually greening their own power consumption given the scale of the climate crisis in this province in this country in the world we need real action mr. Speaker will the premier or this minister be upfront with the Ontarians that this program could would only enable businesses to further greenwash their practices rather than help them reduce their dependency on the gas and gas powered electricity with the people of this province thank you very much and I will mr. Speaker this is a voluntary credit a clean energy credit that's been created mr. Speaker but when it comes to actually making a difference for our environment speaker our government is doing that our government is bringing in concrete measures that aren't only going to clean up the environment here in Ontario but they're going to make a difference around the world mr. Speaker that's why yesterday I was in Regina with ministers from Alberta new Brunswick and Saskatchewan talking about our small modular reactor strategic plan that is going to allow us to send emissions free reliable power sources to jurisdictions around the world mr. Speaker to help them reduce their emissions to make the transition to clean reliable affordable nuclear energy mr. Speaker we're also electrifying places like the Vasco and Algoma Steel some of the biggest emitters in our province we're making tangible differences to our environment not just blah blah blah thank you thank you speaker my question is to the minister of community children community and social services last week I visited the home of Priyanka Iqbal a mother with two young autistic children Priyanka explained that this for governments in term one time funding is not nearly enough for her children to receive the critical core services which are essential for their early development like what was available under the former liberal plan which was co-created by advocates and families with autism with her young daughters on the waitlist for the needs-based program along with over 50,000 other children in Ontario Priyanka has been told by the ministry that only 8,000 spots will be opening in fall of 2022 but there are no guarantees for her children speaker the Ontario autism program was created to reduce the waitlist yet it has done the opposite the new needs-based program was supposed to be implemented April of 2020 it has then been rescheduled for April of 2021 and we are now April 2022 and we are still waiting for this implementation when will the government stop making Ontario families wait thank you speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question and I'd like to give you a breakdown of the 40,000 children that are already receiving services under our Ontario autism program that is a multi- pathway plan that provides multiple services a far more broader and comprehensive program than ever before this is a world-leading program that has resulted from extensive consultations even during COVID to understand exactly what families needed and what children needed and the importance of early intervention the importance of physiotherapy a behavioral therapy language therapy mental health supports a much more broader program so 400,000 children are receiving supports through this program right now we are making good progress and we are on track as we said we would be for 32,000 children with that one term one time interim funding 3,665 in the behavioral plans 30 thank you very much the supplementary question speaker this minister understands the importance of early intervention she just said it Priyanka and her family are watching and they are seeing the opportunity drain both of their children are under three yet the support and the help that they need is simply not available in the cases of of the situation with families like the Iqbal's parents are afraid they are doing everything that they can to provide the support to their children they are selling their assets they are doing everything possible yet under your government even though you say the funding has doubled it has not flowed to the needs of these families this program is not functioning minister and these children are waiting and their window of opportunity is closing and the families are afraid so will the minister commit today with the timeline frankly so that parents like the Iqbal's can know when they will be registering and getting their children the thank you thank you the minister children thank you and again thank you and I certainly want to express how heartfelt this effort is by our government over 40,000 children receiving services right now five times as many children then under the program from the previous government that is a very important accomplishments the process that was required to understand the needs of the families to listen to them to hear them it has required some time but we are making important progress with the independent intake organization we absolutely understand the critical the critical piece of this and again I will talk about the 12,914 families who are receiving foundational family services they for Scarborough Gildwood will come to order the member for Hamilton Mountain will come to order the minister will conclude her and thank you my my heart goes out to all the parents especially under the previous program that had no chance of getting any program thank you very much the next question thank you speaker my question is to the premier speaker among other things this government has a negative reputation for secrecy for lack of transparency and for wasting public dollars on useless fights in the courts the most recent example of all three is this premier's decision to fight the release of his own mandate letters to his cabinet ministers he has fought and lost court battle after court battle to release these 150 pages of mandate letters in January the Ontario court of appeal directed him to have those letters released by now why is this government speaker wasting even more public dollars to take his hidden mandate letters to Canada's Supreme Court instead of just releasing them what is he trying to hide actually I'm surprised to hear that from the member opposite to be honest if you have a little disappointed mr. Speaker I mean I thought when she she deposited that motion that I was being in the government was being too bipartisan that we were working too hard to work together that I thought that was that that bridge building that we have been trying so hard to develop here a Parliament that works closely together so I'm very surprised to hear that from from the member I mean it is the same opposition of course that that deposited a motion of confidence in the government speaker and then voted unanimously to support the government and not only a supporters but to continue in office mr. Speaker so look as I said on a number of cases I think it the mandate has been very clear for all of us not only the cabinet members the parliamentary assistance the caucus members it is to grow the economy response create the best possible province for people to live work invest and to raise a family and I think a strong stable progressive concert a majority government has delivered that and on June the second we will continue to deliver that for the people the problem next we have a deferred vote on the motion for second reading a bill 100 enact to enact legislation to protect access to certain transportation infrastructure call in the members this is a five-minute bell