 At joyous occasion it is now time for question period the leader for the Premier in 1998 as minister of energy I undertook the restructuring of hydro in Ontario and we created an organized order I've said before I want the question put and the answer given in quiet please at that time we created an organization called the Ontario Electricity Financing Corporation the purpose of the OEFC was simple it was responsible for paying off all electricity debt in the province as of March 31st 2013 that's the last year the numbers are available that electricity debt was 27 billion dollars that's about five thousand four hundred dollars per rate pair the law requires that all money coming from a sale of any share in hydro one including Brampton must be used to pay down that electricity debt Premier if money from your sale of hydro one goes to infrastructure as you claim where will you find the 27 billion dollars to pay off hydro's debt thank you very much Mr Speaker well I know the minister of energy is going to want to put in the details of that question Mr Speaker but I want to just I want to just first say that I want to make it clear to the member opposite and to to the people of Ontario Mr Speaker that the reason we are looking at the assets in this province Mr Speaker the reason we asked Ed Clark and his group to to review the assets in the people in the province of Ontario Mr Speaker was I'm asking for the same thing in an answer as I did for the question carry on please all that we would have the ability to leverage those assets to invest in the assets that are needed for the 21st century Mr Speaker we need badly to build highways to build roads and bridges and public transit Mr Speaker because there is a quite frankly there's a deficit of infrastructure across the country Mr Speaker but in Ontario we are doing the right thing we are investing that infrastructure Mr Speaker well Mr Speaker we saw this coming in 1998 we feared that one day a liberal government would come along and look to sell off assets with no regard to paying down the debt minister tourism and cultural sport government passed the electricity act we legislated that every dollar from the sale of hydro one had to go to the OEFC to pay down the province's electricity debt that law premier still stands and it prevents you from putting that money towards anything but the 27 billion dollar debt premier are you going to obey the law or we you simply ignore it she hasn't seen her speaker again I know that I know that the minister's going to want to speak to the specifics but I just think it is it is very important that people understand that this is a member of a party who sold the 407 Mr Speaker who took sure that there would be an ongoing revenue stream Mr Speaker that there would be ownership on the part of the the province or that or that the the money realized from that sale would be used for specific I am going to ask the member from Simcoe North to come to order and I'm also going to indicate to the government side when she's answering there should be none and I'm going to insist on it finish please it was absolutely no thought Mr Speaker to the investment of the the money that was realized from that sale into the future benefit or future assets for the people of the province Mr Speaker all of those things are things that we are taking into account we are not going to follow the path that the previous government laid out Mr Speaker well Mr Speaker I don't think the premier gets it premier if you use the proceeds of the sale from any part of hydro one for infrastructure for example that $27 billion electricity debt will be remained there for ratepayers or taxpayers to pay for many decades to come so premier is the cost of new infrastructure in Ontario going to become another expensive line item on our hydro bills yeah premier minister finance minister finance thank you Mr Speaker the member opposite brings forward and highlights some issues that is of concern to us because that's the legacy they left when they tried working with us asset we want to make sure that we do not do a repeat of the damages that they created for generations to come I suspect he didn't hear me so the member from Renfrew will come to order and the member from Stonemont Dundas and South Wing Gary will come to order carry on please mr Speaker we are not going to speculate on matters that are still being discussed we have asked advisory council reporting to the premier as to the valuations and maximizing the returns to the people of Ontario it's critical as part of those principles that we provide incremental value to the people of Ontario we protect the public interest and that'll be open and transparent and independently validated that's exactly what we're doing anything that we do anything that's created will be there to ensure we protect the people of Ontario and the ratepayers thank you new question the member from Renfrew the same member minister let me help by laying out how Ontario the Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation works under the law currently the OFC has about 11.2 billion dollars in stranded debt on top of the 17 billion it is guaranteed from a hydro one sale the OFC currently pays down that 11.2 billion dollar debt through the profits made at hydro one an OPG but minister if you sell any portion of hydro one that revenue stream that is used to pay down the debt will shrink so how will the OFC pay down the electricity debt if you take away its primary source of income thank you minister of energy minister of finance minister of finance the members will come to order carry on it's it's a great question coming from a member who's the critic who actually was part of the government that created the residual debt and now this retirement charge that the people of Ontario and the ratepayers have to repay and as a result we have taken the precautions and the necessary steps to bring it down the member opposite should also know and he knows fully well that it's a function of the revenues coming through that stream and when those change it changes the amount of residual debt we're taking every precaution and every care necessary to get it reduced we're helping the people of Ontario because of the damages that they created in the past thank you very well speaker i've never actually sat in government by i'm looking forward to the day the minister of energy that'll be soon minister we know how you're going to pay down the debt at oafc if you sell hydro one you're going to introduce new charges on the bills of electricity ratepayers it's the only way you people know how to do business hydro prices are already unaffordable and just last week you admitted that they're going to go up by about 140 dollars per year per customer i can only imagine what the increase will be when you realize you have to pay down the oafc debt with less revenue coming from less ownership in hydro one minister what new charges will the electricity ratepayers of ontario see on their bills in order to pay down the debt that you are ignoring well i was the speaker a couple of things the oab is going to be a regulator it is now and it will continue to be as we proceed forward and any in any initiatives in regards to pricing of course the the minister now let him take the next supplementary has done an excellent job of finding ways to mitigate and protect the people of ontario and repairs as we proceed forward the member opposite also is part of a of a of a party who whose potential leader is talking about looking at this very issue they're they're working on the premise that they want to be able to look at the valuations and the assets that we have before us to see how we can improve upon them the member opposite and his team are the ones that have also initiated some of these ideas as they follow our lead mr speaker we will lead we will continue to do it's right to protect the edges of the public after 12 years of this mess they've even confused themselves speaker so let's recap again to the minister of energy the oafc needs revenue pay down the 11.2 billion dollars of debt that it currently holds but by selling off hydro one you're going to have to share that revenue with the new buyer that means less money for the oafc to pay down that debt the only way your liberal government will make up that loss revenue is by hosing electricity rate pairs yet again minister when are you going to tell the rate pairs that electricity bills are going to continue to skyrocket when you try to pay down the 11 billion dollar debt that you're responsible for mr speaker the member is beginning with a false premise he's beginning with a supposition or speculation as to what we might be bringing forward mr speaker but let's talk about the general principle i have a quote here mr speaker that i'd like to read this quote says the member from stormont dundas and southland gary will come to order carry on the quote i have mr speaker says as premier i will order an immediate review of all assets owned by government assets that don't serve the core functions of government will be divested and every dollar made will be invested in new infrastructure right across our province let's use the full value of these assets to build the roads highways subways and infrastructure that every ontario can use that is from christine elliott member from whitby osho mr speaker in her campaign that's part of her campaign she should over here and join us your own caucus members worry heckling member of the third party thank you speaker my question is for the premier the energy minister went on live tv to say that quote the government has decided that we will be selling a portion of hydro one and quote but in spite of an accidental moment of truth from the energy minister there are fundamental issues that the liberals have not addressed we've seen the premier can't control private power companies as an example eastern power you remember eastern power right they were involved in the uh mississauga gas plant scandal this company has apparently been building pipelines without permission and forcing workers into unsafe work conditions it seems the gas plant candle scandal continues speaker but we also know that private power costs us more money so can the premier promise ontarians that hydro bills won't go up after the government privatizes hydro one and local utilities well mr speaker as uh as i have said as the minister finance has said as the minister of energy has said one of the one of the principles uh uh we're using in the the conversation that uh that uh we're having with mr clark and the conversation that he's having about uh the assets mr speaker is that controlling of price is extremely important to us it's extremely important to the people of ontario the regulatory regime is extremely important mr speaker so the protections of the people of ontario are at the core of what we know we need to do mr speaker but at the same time i say to the leader of the third party she ran on a platform that was exactly the same as ours in in terms of looking at assets and building and building the uh the realization the leveraging of those assets the the money that could be realized from that into the plan to build transit and transit infrastructure mr speaker so the reality is we are moving forward we're implementing the plan that we ran on that she ran on mr speaker so we can invest in thank you supplementary really clear as new democrats are the only party in this house that fundamentally disagrees with the selling off of our public assets and i promise that selling off hydro one and local hydro companies won't cost ontarians more because she knows full well that power bills are going up it's going to hurt family speaker it's going to hurt manufacturing it's going to hurt our resource sector it's going to hurt innovators this morning we heard from the ontario federation of agriculture that it's going to hurt agriculture it's going to hurt everybody except for a very small handful of private energy interests so will the premier on this ridiculous plan is one of two she's a member of one of two parties in this legislature who don't believe that investing in infrastructure for the future is necessary to economic structure how to build the transit the rooster speaker is irresponsible it speaks to a lack of understanding of how the economy in ontaria works mr speaker it speaks to a lack of understanding of the needs for the 21st century and it speaks to a lack of understanding of ontaria's position in the world well we understand that final supplementary here doesn't understand is that this asset is owned by the people of ontario and should be owned by them and their children and their grandchildren and the minister of transportation from the other all of a sudden they're gonna have an asset sale and sell off everything that ontarians own and you know what it's not just new democrats who see the privatization plan of the premier for the nonsense that it actually is member from trinity spadina from the order taking to social media and sending letters telling the liberals that their plan is wrong the toronto star editorial says privatizing electricity grid was a bad idea when mike harris's conservatist came up with it in 2001 and it still is globin mail says the mandate ontario's liberal government handed for the td bank chief at clark was flawed from the outset setting off priced electricity selling off price electricity assets to pay for transit projects smacked of more cash and more of a cash grab than a considered approach thank you thank you we are going to be extremely extremely thoughtful and careful mr speaker the member from timon's james bay will come to order thank you finish please it is extremely important to the future economy to the present economy of this province mr speaker that we demonstrate the will to make the investments that are necessary we cannot we cannot talk to other countries we cannot talk to people in other countries we can't talk to people in china or south america about investing in ontario mr speaker unless we have demonstrated the will to make the investments that are necessary now the fact is that we have to we have to leverage our assets mr speaker and we have to work with the private sector because that's really at the root of what the leader of the third party is talking about sir she doesn't want to work with the private sector mr speaker except that when her party was in office they signed nine private power generating contracts mr speaker so apparently do one thank you new question leader of the third party thank you speaker my next question is for the premier a cut is a cut no matter what the premier calls it yesterday the premier called half a billion dollar education cut and adjustment people are being fired but the premier says boards have staffed differently now firing is firing no matter what the premier calls it speaker will the premier admit that she's cutting education how many more schools are going to be closed and how many more education workers are going to be fired in her 2015 budget let's just begin with the fact that we've built 725 schools in this province mr speaker since this government's been in office and there are more than 700 renovations so mr speaker the on balance there has been much more building and renovation and enhancement of school buildings if that's what we're talking about mr speaker then there has been otherwise at the same time mr speaker if the leader of the third party understood how staffing models work mr speaker across boards and in classroom plus seriously if the if the leader of the third party understood that boards make decisions and in fact mr speaker schools make decisions about how they're going to allocate staff and as as enrollment declines mr speaker there are decisions that boards have to make across the province but even in the face of declining enrollment mr speaker education funding in this province is stable in the face of fewer students in our schools thank you i think what we need to do is run a bank this chamber so that it's big enough for the premier's eagle if a board chooses to change their staffing because their funding is changing that's their prerogative i think ontarians might appreciate speaker a translation from liberal ease into plain old english what the premier was really saying was that the liberals are cutting school board funding and education workers therefore therefore are being fired um on all sites please please finish the liberals are cutting school board funding and education workers are getting fired gee that's so hard to understand yeah and the premier is trying to duck responsibility by blaming the boards where she got into politics because of cuts to education most people thought she was talking about fighting those cuts not implementing them will she stop and thank you mr speaker when i was talking about staffing the fact is that 30 years ago i was cutting my teeth on staffing committees i was on staffing committees mr speaker as a parent i was working with the school board mr speaker to try to understand how staffing worked i'll get my work out but i'm not going to ask for quiet please thank you carry on and it was that point at that point mr speaker that i learned how education was working and the member for a kitchener what waterloo was talking about those years and those were difficult years because we were working up to having to fight the cuts that mike harris was making mr speaker and they were the amalgamations that were they were those were very very difficult years well mr speaker those years are gone there are billions and billions more dollars in education mr speaker that fund is stable despite the fact that there are fewer students in our schools thank you final supplementary speaker it's not just schools that the premier is cutting the liberals are also cutting health care just this week we learned that there are new nursing cuts in london and kitchener earlier today we were joined by the Ontario health coalition together with international health experts who are standing up for health care in niagara will the premier do the right thing if not in education then perhaps in health care and ensure that the people of the niagra region have access to health care when and where they need it and keep the niagra region hospitals open instead of closing them speak to the the theme of these questions the theme is that we can't change anything that nothing should change there should be no transit built mr speaker there should be no roads and bridges built mr speaker because we can't raise the money to do that there should be no no change at the local school board level no consolidation of schools no community hubs created mr speaker no renovation of new schools so that new programs can be given to kids mr speaker there should be no transformation of the health care system there should be no more home care in our communities because that would require change and that would require a different kind of staffing so the theme of the ndp mr speaker is everything's fine we can't change a thing because we cannot look ahead we cannot use our imagination we cannot work with the private sector or school boards or hospitals to make the changes thank you new question the member from nipissing thank you my question is for the premier just when you hoped the smell from your gas plant scandal was dissipating today the odor is as strong as ever the company you gave a sweetheart deal to as part of your liberal seat saver program is at it again eastern power and its subsidiary greenfield south have now apparently built a pipeline without a permit to service your wrongly relocated mississauga gas plant you know this is the same company you gave a 36 million dollar payout for sunk costs and a 45 million dollar no interest loan according to the auditor general the total cost of the cancellation is 275 million dollars premier you can't cut a tree down in ontario without a permit how did you allow your buddies to build a pipeline made this point before when i stand up and i get quiet it stays that way and you don't use it for a chance to get another one in premier mr. speaker it sounds like the sky is falling down over this this dispute and this contract mr. speaker the reality is mr. speaker what is going on here is a dispute over where a link will be where a pipe will go to provide the gas to this particular facility mr. speaker it's an issue that is under the jurisdiction of the ontario energy board the dispute has brought before the other leads gravel i understand the ontario energy board is going to decide sometime today or tomorrow to say the pipe is going here or it's going there mr. speaker that's the issue she contracted for a power plant where it wasn't wanted and where it should never have been put in the first place then she canceled it to save liberal seats in the 2011 election as the campaign co-chair later when her friends at eastern power and greenfield wouldn't stop construction for another two months after the election she bent over backwards opening the public purse to pay for a purely political promise now we find that this liberal government has turned a blind eye to what eastern power is doing at the newly relocated site in lampton they are doing whatever they want given the gas plant scandal and more recently the Sudbury bi-election scandal speaker should ontarians really be surprised that this premier is willing to ignore the law if it suits her own public participation interest mr. speaker let's start with the fact that that particular plant is being built with a willing host community mr. speaker that's number one number two mr. speaker this dispute has to do with where that is a dispute that is being resolved between the parties and has been brought before the ontario energy board they'll be issuing a decision as to where that particular pipe will go mr. speaker and the issue will be resolved they're making a mountain out of the molehill they're trying to go back to the days when they can stand up every year every day and talk about the gas plant scandal mr. speaker the reality is we built 20 new gas plants in this province there's two new ones going under construction and this one mr. speaker has a dispute about a connection for a gas line mr. speaker they should get the member from the p and carlton will come to order and i do remind her to use the titles or writings and i will be forceful on that new question the member from timon's james b my question is to the premier premier we know that you're about to have an interview with the ontario provincial police in regards to the bribery scandal we know that it's reported that the ontario provincial police do want to interview mr. mr. sabera mr. laude and the mpp from sudbury mr tebow can you confirm if those meetings are to take place and the interviews will go forward mr. speaker i've uh i've been clear that i will be having an interview before the end of the month uh the investigation is taking place outside of this house it's not taking place in this legislature mr. speaker and i'll work with the authorities outside of the legislature thank you supplementary minister a very simple question there are three people that are also under investigation madame sabera mr. laude and mr. tebow the question is is the ontario provincial police setting up meetings and have your members agree to have those meetings with the opp to be interviewed in regards to the sudbury bribery scandal yes or no i can only speak for my schedule some days i can barely speak for my schedule but i can only speak for my schedule i know that i am going to be meeting with the uh the opp before the end of the month mr. speaker i will work with the authorities outside of the legislature but that is the point mr. speaker the uh the investigation is taking place outside of the legislature with the authorities and i will work with them in that process thank you mr. speaker my question is for the minister of agriculture food and rural affairs we know that farmers feed cities and are an integral part of our 34 billion dollar agri-food industry but if it's going to grow and continue to compete internationally more needs to be done in october of 2013 the premier challenged our agri-food industry to double its growth rate to create 120 000 new jobs by 2020 in order to help meet this challenge we need to work with that industry to identify opportunities for growth and innovation now just last weekend mr. speaker in waterloo region for instance almyra's maple syrup festival attracted a crowd of thousands they ate 10 000 pancakes smothered with over 680 liters of maple syrup made by local ministers and one of them is a good friend of mine denis weaver who's a third generation maple syrup producer near st jakem so i'd like to ask the minister to update this house on the status of the premier's growth plan thank you minister back thank you uh thank you very much uh mr. speaker and i want to thank the great member from kitchens center to ask this question who had a mr. speaker had a very distinguished career with ctv news before she arrived here so she she has a great perspective of what's going on right at the province of ontario mr. speaker the maple syrup is one of our province's oldest traditional agricultural products we have more than 2 500 producers run across the province of ontario and we all know that letter county east of ontario is the maple syrup capital of ontario together we harvest about 1.5 million liters of surface making ontario one of the top three producers in canada grossing more than 32 million dollars in maple product sales and contributing over 53 million dollars to canada's gdp mr. speaker our government your government is here to work with the agri-food industry our partners sir maple syrup producers to help them beat the premier's growth challenge we'll measure progress as we will walk our way with our new agricultural steering committee that we recently announced a big i stand you sit supplementary thank you minister for that answer and uh we'll hear some more from you in just a moment it's encouraging to hear that our government is committed to working with our maple syrup producers but minister in december of 2014 the federal government announced changes to the federal maple products regulations under the canada agricultural products act this is for common standards for grading color classifications and labeling for maple products across all maple producing jurisdictions the approved regulation came into effect in december of last year with a two-year implementation period to allow time for the industry to meet the new requirements now spokespeople with the ontario maple syrup products association are telling us that regulatory harmonization would provide a number of benefits to their industry so mr. speaker can the minister please inform this house on a time when ontario producers can expect to see changes thank you minister well thank you very much mr. speaker i want to thank the member for kitchens center for the supplementary we are very aware of the new standards that have been brought in by the government of canada we'll be starting a consultation with small medium and large maple syrup producers throughout ontario consultations will help to identify and address our progress made by maple syrup producers and including the grading and classification of maple products we want to ensure as the premier says that we have a very robust conversation and encouraging growth and exploring how the sector can contribute to the premier's agri-growth food challenge our government your government is committed to working with our maple syrup producers to meet their needs and support them and their efforts to grow their businesses and contribute positively to ontario's economy and i do know that those panties in albaira came from peterville from quaker roads mr. speaker thank you very much mr. speaker to the minister of community and social services yesterday you released the sam's such a mess system interim report sadly it was 20 pages of nothing in fact the scope of the report explicitly says it does not provide an assessment of the overall system infrastructure performance of sam's minister vulnerable citizens who depend on social assistance want answers frontline workers want answers yet this report is obviously just an attempt by your government to deflect people from the real problem and a waste of two hundred thousand dollars minister can you explain why these key areas were emitted from the report and how the people of ontario can trust you to manage this file going forward that's a good question very much mr. speaker and certainly we have acknowledged the problems with sam's and we know that there is a lot more work to do and this is why we commissioned price waterhouse cooper's to help us going forward in terms of improving the system in terms of the functionality of the system of course the proof really is how are we helping vulnerable ontarians we have now had five successful pay runs for both odsp and ow mr. speaker payment to 570 thousand families over 3 million from prince Edward hastings vulnerable ontarians thank you thank you supplementary today thanks speaker back to the ministry of community and social services minister yesterday in scrums when asked why you implemented a system that clearly wasn't ready you responded by saying and i quote hindsight is 2020 when you say it will be a seamless rollout despite warnings from frontline workers in the opposition you would better be certain and i'm going to challenge your five seamless runs yesterday was check day and hundreds of thousands of people did not get their checks yesterday that's true you are playing with people's lives our vulnerable recipients deserve better and so do our frontline staff minister people have lost confidence will you do the honorable thing accept responsibility for the continuing sands boondog and resigned today oh here we go thank you minister thank you mr speaker there is some incorrect information related to yesterday's check run i've been assured that it was a success i have visited mr. speaker number from bruce grayo and sound second time offices i have visited hamilton odsp brandford o w toronto o w north bay d sab and the odsp office there peter bruh o w and odsp ottawa o w and i was able to thank some of the social assistance workers in mrs. saga for their great efforts in ensured listened to frontline workers i want to thank them for their dedication i want to thank them for their frankness and speaking directly to me with their concerns this is precisely what price waterhouse answer cooper's is addressing and in the final report we look forward to their recommendation thank you speaker my question is to the premier no one is no one is about accountability in this legislature but the minister of community and social services that'll do and social services refuses to take responsibility over the sam's fiasco since november families have been underpaid checks have been too late to pay the rent staff are overwhelmed and exhausted and just yesterday sam's had to be rebooted forcing staff to reassess many of their cases sam's is a nightmare but the liberals still think they aren't accountable to the people of ontario speaker what will it take for the premier to ask for the minister's resignation mr. speaker well i know the minister of community and social services will want to speak to the supplementary but i believe i just heard her take responsibility mr. speaker i believe i just heard her say that she and we recognize that there have been problems with the implementation of sam's mr. speaker absolutely we understand that there have been problems and furthermore mr. speaker we understand that there has been stress on frontline workers that's why the minister has been visiting offices that's why she has been listening to what they have to say that's why there is a report being written mr. speaker so the fact is there needed to be a change there needed to be a new system put in place there have been problems with the implementation of that system and the fact is we are addressing those problems mr. speaker so that the frontline workers will have the support that they need and so that the service to recipients will be improved supplementary the minister told us last thursday quote we have been extremely successful but here's how the liberals measure success 21 weeks of chaos 500 000 t-fives shredded 720 clients privacy breached 240 million and counting wasted on software that doesn't work doesn't work and now 200 000 dollars spent on a report that ignores the biggest issues that staff and recipients have been telling the liberals for months the functionality of the system doesn't work how much needs to go wrong before the premier asked this minister to resign very much mr. speaker and my responsibility certainly lies looking forward to ensuring that sam's does come to full implementation i taking that extremely seriously this is why we wanted a fresh set of eyes with price waterhouse coopers to give us some good advice going forward and in fact they have acknowledged some of the successes to date some 57 priority issues have been addressed we have opened helplines to assist those staff who are clearly quite stressed we have developed new and updated job aids and we are releasing updates regularly to staff to improve communication so i am given the mandate by our premier to continue to work as hard as i can to ensure that all our officials are also doing that to ensure that vulnerable ontarians are looked after thank you mr. speaker yesterday at the legislature i was able to see the medals for the pan para pan am games up close and let me tell you oh i said oh this is a question i'm sorry the question is for the minister of tourism culture and sport thank you as i was saying those medals are simply amazing i was able to see how they were made and learn of the story behind them the artwork of the medals was designed in collaboration with christy belcore a metti visual artist and this is the first time that braille has been incorporated into medals for the pan para pan am games during the legislature allowed everything to really sink in the pan para pan am games are coming and yesterday marked 100 days until the games and i am so excited to be welcoming so many people to our province speaker can the minister responsible for the pan para pan am games update us on where we are at 99 days out question thank you thank you mr. speaker and i want to thank the member from davin court for her advocacy and her working within our community to really push these games thank you so much i know you're a big supporter and you're doing a great job in engaging your community uh mr. speaker we're 99 days away from the games and the excitement is building over 60 000 people have signed up to volunteer we've sold over 350 000 tickets and 15 of the capital venues including 11 of the athletic facilities have been completed and they're open up for community use yesterday we marked the 100th day until the games by welcoming 100 new canadiens with a citizenship ceremony held at our spectacular athletes village mr. speaker this was a great example of how these games embody so much more than just the pan am games they represent the diversity that we value here in the province of ontario and i'm so proud to support these games thank you speaker and thank you minister and excitement for the games is building up in my riding of davenport and across the province and the celebrations have already begun last week i attended the ignite event held in the legislature through the ignite program ontario is supporting celebrations across the province to connect residents and visitors with the spirit and cultural diversity of the pan pair pan am games at the event last week there was food from latin america and the caribbean steel band performers people painting murals among other performances they beat the event gave only a sneak peek of what we can expect as the games begin and into the excitement that will take over our province over the next 99 days speaker through you to the minister can you tell us more about how government is supporting communities in celebrations of the pan pair pan am games thank you to the member when we won the bid for these games we felt it was important to have these games in 60 municipalities across the golden horseshoe and the torch will stop in 130 communities starting in beautiful thunder bay people from across this province to share in this excitement and of course to support a wide range of events an organization helping to promote and celebrate the spirit of these games and that's why i'm proud that our government has funded 103 ignite celebrations in communities across the great province of ontario to engage communities 2015 is a time for celebrating our pan american connection and the spirit of sport and in 99 days we'll host the largest multi-sport event in the history of this nation and i'm so proud to be part of these games mr yeah i think i've done a premier premier just before you became liberal leader in 2012 you stated and i quote when i say we need to stay on our government's physical plan of balancing the budget by 2017 18 i mean it end quote so you want us to believe in two years a balanced budget in spite of the fact your deficits have been increasing over the past three years not decreasing in your hand-picked economist don drummond predicts again in two years a 30.2 billion dollar deficit you say zero who are we to believe you i'm thinking or you're repeatedly misleading numbers or don drummond i'm going to ask the member to withdraw that thank you well thank you mr speaker an interesting question given the fact that we released a report back in november talking about some of the challenges before us over the next 20 years we commissioned the report from mr drummond himself who provided a number of recommendations of which we are now applying well over 80 percent he himself has acknowledged that we far exceeded even his expectations but i guess i guess to answer your question more directly you should believe the numbers that are reported and the numbers are being reported that 1.6 billion dollars has been saved by this government over this year we're on track to battle by 2017 18 i'm very proud of the work that all ontarians are doing to step it up thank you mr speaker supplementary i certainly don't believe either one of you and year after year we presently as host phony deficit numbers fake numbers purposely designed to confuse the people of ontario into thinking stop the clock please i remember from beaches east jork will withdraw withdraw speaker the people of ontario into thinking that your increasing deficits are that significant your inflated deficit projections are a deliberate scam to obfuscate the real deficit numbers that continue the member will withdraw withdraw obfuscate premier you've done this three years the member will withdraw and now i will ask the premier to answer that's okay thank you thank you um what's wrong with you know mr speaker and really 12 members of this house we try to do our best with integrity and we are being very forthright in what we do no no seriously the we we respect to me please respect questions that come before us and i believe people's intentions regardless of political strike i think their intentions are good but frankly to suggest that we are trying to do something otherwise but to try to bring forward something that is real to the people of ontario is what we've done the conference board of canada have already cited that ontario far exceeds every other government in canada for its integrity and we do believe that ontarians want what we're about to put forward and that's improved numbers on track about by 2017-18 and we'll work together thank you any question remember from ones or west here speaker i have asked the premier three times this week if she will prohibit university boards of governors from negotiating million dollar salaries for university presidents yesterday the president of the treasury board said that bill eight would address this issue the problem is speaker bill eight does nothing to prevent double salary payouts from being negotiated in the future ontarians could be seeing more double salary deals for university presidents paid for by public dollars rising student tuition fees and cuts to university budgets premier university presidents are already among the highest paid public sector employees in ontario how can your government defend a system that allows university presidents to earn twice their salary if they don't go on leave well in fact none of us on the side of the house is defending that and in fact i'm very pleased to know that a portion of the president's salary will be will be returned mr. speaker we know that there's a problem with executive compensation that's why we brought in bill eight mr. speaker that's why we brought in the accountability act and just to correct just to correct what the member said in fact the accountability act does enable the government to prohibit pay in lieu of leave when looking at compensation frameworks i asked that question explicitly mr. speaker it does allow us to look as we look at the whole compensation the executive compensation it is possible within that within the scope of bill eight to look at exactly this kind of thing so mr. speaker we're not defending it we're not defending it we are looking at the the whole compensation package mr. speaker including this kind of mechanism in 12 the liberal government told ontarians that executive pay would be permanently capped at no more than double the premier salary of 418 000 per year speaker we now know that last year 181 individuals made more than twice the premier salary an increase of 24 percent from the year before so the public education come to rocketing public sector ceo salaries in Ontario is clearly getting worse it's not getting better but yesterday the deputy premier assured this has that bill eight sets limits on public sector ceo compensation of course anyone who reads the bill knows that it does not cap compensation however on monday the liberal member of kitchener senator told cbckw something completely different when asked about the out of control public sector ceo salaries she said we're going to see a hard cap so look for it in the upcoming budget which is a premier in the face of cuts to hospitals and schools and soaring public ceo it's an insult to hardworking families speaker can the premier tell ontarians whether her government will follow through on its promise to cap public sector ceo salaries or just keep telling ontarians one thing and doing the next there will be caps mr. speaker that's what bill eight was about the accountability act is there mr. speaker what's remarkable is that this party the ndp didn't vote for that knows full well that there will be caps knows that there will be a range and she also knows mr. speaker that her leader her leader also said that there need to be exemptions she said and this is november 27th 2013 the ndp leader said when we're talking about people at the top nuclear engineers in the world for example we've made an exemption for that type of case in the bill we would have to look at those folks on a case by case basis that's why the exemption exists the ndp understands that we need caps we've got caps in the bill mr. speaker the ndp understands that there has to be a range of salaries that's in the bill the ndp understands there have to be exemptions that's in the bill and they didn't vote for it mr. speaker you see the case minister of aboriginal affairs come to order start the clock please new question member from out of our league thank you mr. president thank you mr. speak and newt services minister i think it is safe to say that all of us in this house can agree that giving our children and newt the best start possible in life is a top priority and i know this is a top priority for you and for your ministry this is especially true for children and newt with autism spectrum disorder as well as the families and loved ones who take care of them minister as today is world autism awareness day and you inform the house what the work is done by your ministry concerning autism thank you speaker and i'd like to thank the member for this very important question on this very important day children living with autism as well as the family members who help and support them are indeed some of the most inspiring people i have met since becoming the minister of children and newt services i am very very um happy about the progress of our government concerning those children base services and supports which are helping 8 000 children each year become more independent and improve the communication social skills through our autism intervention program speaker we've increased intensive behavior intervention services to children and youth with autism across the province and more importantly speaker and most importantly we've more than a lot of ruble the investments in autism services for children and youth i thank the member for giving me an opportunity to speak to them thank you strong action being taken by this government to help improve the lives of children and youth with autism i am very happy to learn that there have been numerous investments in this field autism services frequently this issue is very close to my heart and close to home having a place to go to get answers to these questions will be a valuable resource for any parents trying to find opportunity for their son or daughter and the services in the area for this reason mr speaker i asked you through you to the minister of children and youth services can you please tell this house about the places parents can go to find current information on autism and the services that they may be available thank you minister i'd like to thank the member for the question not red who are no more continue our government continues to fund services for children with autism and their families we are funding numerous programs in this field and it's wonderful to see in that these programs will give a chance to in these families and children to participate in very important activities like swimming music and music for example includes tracking links to available services and the latest research information on support treatments transitions coping strategies and so much more and i'd like to acknowledge a very special guest with us in the house today six-year-old aid and lead inspiring young man and the artist behind the autism resource kit thank you a beautiful artwork thank you minister in 2010 mr jim mcqueen a Durham region resident suffered a stroke at the age of 55 like many post-stroke patients mr mcqueen has required hundreds of physiotherapy treatments to regain mobility and improve his quality of life however when mr mcqueen needed our healthcare system the most he was afforded only a dozen treatments and then was forgotten about in fact the ohip model for physiotherapy greatly limits the coverage to those between the ages of 20 and 64 as a result post-stroke patients in this age range struggle for access to the rehabilitation services they need and deserve minister my question is simple will you take steps to ensure all post-stroke patients regardless of age have access to sufficient rehabilitation thank you mr speaker and i uh i appreciate the very thoughtful question from the member opposite i've received her letter on this issue i know there's a private members bill this afternoon that's going to be debated on the same issue as well it's an issue that i know is important to many many ontarians uh the the member opposite i believe does know that the ministry for several years now has been uh as part of our transformation away from uh program and service focused funding to funding which is focused on quality evidence and outcomes we've begun that important work on stroke services we've made some important changes and now we're moving on our attention we have been for some time through the ministry on precisely the issue that the member opposite has raised and that's to ensure that our approach to rehabilitation of stroke post-stroke patients and it's focused on the same quality and positive outcomes evidence that we would hope will lead to the best possible outcome for patients yeah supplementary thank you well minister as you will know this is not a question about the changes that were made in physiotherapy several years ago with which we strongly disagree it is a question more of age discrimination and the fact of the matter is that people who suffer from strokes do not get the services they need if they're between ages of 20 and 64 there is a large body of evidence indicating that with consistent rehabilitation post-stroke patients can show dramatic improvements to their health well past the six month mark however the Ontario stroke network says that the rehabilitation needs of only about 50 percent of post-stroke patients are now being met we need to recognize that there's a great need for comprehensive and integrated post-stroke management that reflects the long-term nature of stroke recovery so minister as you've indicated you're aware that this afternoon i'm bringing forward a private member's motion asking your government to find the necessary in-house savings for all post-stroke patients will you commit to supporting my motion well um mr speaker i certainly don't want to imply that this isn't an important issue but i do want to reiterate the fact that this is an issue that my ministry is and has been for some time working on the elements that are expressed in her letter and in her private members bill she knows that i believe she does that that our government not only being committed to providing the best possible care for stroke patients but is moving on that important issue of ensuring that it's also provided on the rehabilitative side of things in fact just last week i made an important announcement both on the both on the physio side as well as in the as what's known as assassin restore at toronto rehab which focuses on specifically the issue that she's raising is how to make sure that we get these individuals back full independence but we have made important changes with regards to stroke services my ministry for some time has been working on the precise issue that she's raised remember from Niagara Falls mr speaker my question is to the premier premier as you may know the town of fordary passed a resolution to once again give five hundred thousand dollars to the town's money to the racetrack in order to keep the track open in operation premier this money is being given by the town to cover the loss of the gaming funds that result in when your government ripped out the slot machines in fordary and have never put them back and this is important premier i'd like you to listen to this line the track itself has a plan to become self-sustainable and not require any money from the province or from the taxpayers of fordary the town fully supports keeping the track open with will this government return the slots fordary racetrack so the track can thrive and the burden is not on the taxpayers of fordary thank you thank you very much mr speaker and i do appreciate the question for my good friend the member for Niagara Falls in fact it just seems a short time ago i extended the invitation to my good friend the member for Niagara Falls when i had the opportunity to be in fordary with the leaders of the thoroughbred horse racing industry fordary to announce that indeed the this government is uh allocated more racing days for the great track at fordary which is something that's very important mr speaker we've listened carefully we had a panel made up of three of the most distinguished individuals that serve in this legislature my good friend the honorable elbert began who sat with that party very distinguished member the honorable john snowball that side of those benches over there and of course our friend the honorable john wilkinson that panel put forward a framework for horse racing profits of a terror we're galloping forward when it comes to horse racing thank you very much i just want to share with the house that the page from here in bruce ral pandia won the right to compete in the provincial leach and public speaking contest on april 25th and i wish him the best of luck all right minister chairman use services on point of order speaker i also have people from the south uh asian autistic center in scarborough geitha mortice and three others here joining us today to spell to celebrate autism awareness day thank you we have a deferred vote on a motion for closure on the second on the motion for second reading of bill 45 calling the members this will be a five minute bell members to please take their seats did you get that memo all members take your seats please on december 3rd 2014 mrs darman moved the second reading of bill 45 an act to enhance public health by enacting and healthy menu choices act 2014 an electronic cigarettes act 2014 and by amending the smoke free ontario act mr leal has moved that the question be now put all those in favor mr leal's motion please rise one at a time be recognized by the clerk mr leal his brother mr barrelly mr scholey mr scho 그때 mr susan mr susan seven asavilas matthews mr huskis mr huskins miss sandles Osaka do you guys nigga's mcccharles mcc � mitewinter mr quintere-koll'd call mr tyjar Smith to cut mr police bernette mrteok Mr. Pots. Mr. Rinaldi. Mr. Rinaldi. Ms. Verneel. Ms. Verneel. Mr. Tebow. Mr. Tebow. All those polls please rise one at a time. You're recognized by the clerk. Mr. Clark. Mr. Clark. Mr. Arna. Mr. Arna. Mr. Hardiman. Mr. Hardiman. Ms. McLeod. Ms. McLeod. Ms. Ellia. Ms. Ellia. Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson. Mr. Fidelli. Mr. Fidelli. Mr. Yacobusky. Mr. Yacobusky. Mr. Miller, Perry Sound, Muskoka. Mr. Miller, Perry Sound, Muskoka. Mr. Dunlaw. Mr. Dr. Weberman. Mr. Dallow. Mr. Jones. Mr. Farone. Mr. Daddy Opus. Mr. Stonecakes. Mr. Alfredo. Mr. S sau. Mr. Baley. Mr. Waller. Mr. Walker. Mr. Rler. Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith. Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris. Mr. B reborn. Mr. Martin. Ms. Kendarna. Mr. Clark. Mr. Frank. Mr. Saint Lap hiccetide. Dr. Harris. Mr. Hortdress. Mr. US. Mr. Mantha. Mr. Hatfield. Mr. Gates. Mr. Gretzky. Mr. French. The eyes are 52 and the nays are 41. The eyes being 52 and the nays being 41 and declare the motion carried. Ms. Darmila has moved second reading of Bill 45, an act to enhance public health by enacting the Healthy Menu Choices Act 2014 and the Electronic Cigarettes Act 2014 and by amending the Smoke-Free Ontario Act. Is it the pleasure of the House to motion carry? I heard no. All those in favour, please say aye. All those opposed, please say nay. In my opinion, the eyes have it. Thank you. The eyes have it. Carry. We have the bill. Does the election pose you a law? The bill is ordered for third reading. Minister of Agriculture. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, I'd ask that the bill be referred to the Standing Committee on General Government. So ordered. So ordered. There are no further votes. This House stands adjourned until 1 p.m. this afternoon.