 It's now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thanks very much, Speaker. Speaker, before I start, I just want to wish Ramadan Mubarak to all of the Muslim folks in our province. It's a month of religious observation and a great grace for that community. Speaker, my first question is to the Premier. On Sunday, the Premier, the government, told parents that schools were safe to open. And then on Monday, they turned around and closed the schools. So my question to the Premier is, why would you tell parents on Sunday that schools were safe, less than 24 hours before closing them? In response, Government House Leader. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. Leader of the Opposition, we know that we have consistently been working very hard. The Minister of Education has been working very hard to make sure that our schools are safe, and they have remained remarkably safe through all three waves that we have been fighting COVID. And it's because of the investments that we have made. But obviously, the Minister has continued to work with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, not only in Dr. Williams, but across all 34 public health units in the province. And as he committed, and has always committed, he said that we would continue to work with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, with the public health regions across this province, and take their advice. And the advice had come that despite the fact that schools are safe, despite the fact that how important it is to keep our kids in school, recognizing that we would continue to help and assist to try to keep the numbers down, that we're seeing the community spread in the third wave. And that's why the decision was made to act quickly in order to ensure that more people were staying home. And that public advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health across the province will listen to you. Thank you. Well, Speaker, the government had been warned four months and months and months on end that schools needed to be made safer, that we needed to see smaller class sizes, that there needed to be investments in better ventilation and ability even for schools, classrooms to open their windows, that we needed mass testing in our schools. And yet the government ignored each and every time those warnings. In fact, they even cut education in their last budget. Speaker, why does this government continue to ignore warnings and the advice of experts leading us right into crisis after crisis? Mr. Speaker, the Chief Medical Officer of Health has been absolutely clear, as is every medical officer of health in this province, the plan in place to keep schools safe and open has ensured that students, 1.5 million each and every day were able to go to school. The issue dealing that we have responded to yesterday as a government singularly exists with rising transmission in the community, creating a threat potentially to our schools. In fact, to every member of this province, which is precisely why, Speaker, we have followed the advice taking decisive immediate action to prevent a challenge in our schools. In the words of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, he said yesterday, schools have been safe. This intervention is designed to keep them safe, to get them back open. And our collective resolve is to make sure that Ontarians follow the rules, that we keep strong protocols in place, reduce the transmission in the community to get Ontario schools back open. The final supplement, Chief. Well, Speaker, you know, this government's lack of action has led to uncertainty, has led to stress, it's led to anxiety. This is anxiety and stress and uncertainty for parents and for kids and for teachers and education workers, because this government didn't want to listen to the experts and refused to spend the money to keep our schools safe. And now the warnings are upon us that, in fact, child care might be next in terms of closing. Why is it that this government refuses to listen to the expert advice? When will they actually do the right thing? Fix this mess, reverse the cuts to education and invest in our schools, our kids and our education workers? And the Minister of Education. Mr. Speaker, we have followed the advice of the medical experts. In the words of the CEO of the hospital for six children yesterday, and I quote, I don't think we can open schools right now. We just, we have to just now do our part and not fail our children and do everything we can to drive down community transmission so that schools can be the first doors to open. We certainly agree, which is why we've taken action in this province with the state home order, with a variety of actions designed to reduce transmission in the community. This issue rests exclusively with rising transmission in the province as well as our ICU capacity really to breaking point. And that's why this decision was made, pivoting quickly to remote learning where this government has invested. We've also ensured the continuity of mental health access for these kids, recognizing that they should be in a class. Our commitment on this side of the house is to work every day with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, to do everything we can to reduce transmission, to protect our healthcare heroes, and to get kids back in class. Once again, the leader of the opposition. Well, Speaker, families and childcare workers are very worried that the closure of childcare centers in this province is inevitable. The calls for prioritizing the vaccination of childcare workers, ECEs, is, they're growing. The calls are growing. Yet here we are again. The government had no plan to keep our childcare centers open. They had no plan to vaccinate the frontline childcare workers to keep them safe and be able to keep the centers open. When will we hear a plan from this government? Is there a plan that the government can share with us today to keep childcare centers open and vaccinate those frontline childcare workers? And the Minister of Education. Mr. Speaker, the commitment of this government is to get every frontline worker a vaccine. As supply gets to this province because we continue to face challenges in getting it to Ontario. That is a matter of fact. If we have more, we would have expanded it to every single frontline worker already. What we have done, however, in the second phase, which we are in, is accelerated prioritization to education staff, our EAs, our ECEs, our school bus drivers and our teachers that work within our schools, particularly within the hotspot areas of Toronto and Peel, as well as for special education staff province-wide. For, with respect to childcare workers, they are also in phase two. And our aim as more supply gets to this province is to get them to the head of the line. We know the critical role they play in keeping families and the children they care for safe. That's why we're committed to getting them supplied, getting them access to the vaccine they deserve as soon as Ontario gets the vaccine from the federal government. Supplementary. Speaker, back to the Premier. You know, this Premier is behaving with a, with a very dangerous pattern of denial. This week, schools were safe until they weren't. Last week, a stay-at-home order wasn't necessary until it was. Back in February, the government ignored the advice of all of the experts and instead started to open too fast and without investing in extra health precautions and protections. When is this government, Speaker, going to get ahead of the crisis? When are they going to stop saying, when is this Premier going to stop saying, things are pretty good and actually ensure that things start getting better for the people of Ontario? The government, House Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, I don't know where the leader of the opposition has been for the last year, but Ontario has been leading the way when it comes to fighting the coronavirus, Mr. Speaker. What, less yesterday and what last week represented, was the Ontario government and the people of Ontario finally moving away from defense and to offense to fight and defeat the COVID virus once and for all. We started fighting back by increasing our testing capacity from 5,000 to 75,000. We inherited 5,000, the ability to 5,000 test a day, it's at 75,000. We started fighting back by increasing hospital and ICU beds in the system. We fight it back by increasing 3,000 beds. We fight it back by increasing critical care capacity in the province. We fought back by increasing long-term care. We fought back by adding beds in long-term care, Mr. Speaker. And we're fighting back by bringing the vaccines into the communities that are hardest-hit and we're fighting back by bringing it into the workplaces that are so essential to keeping this province going, Mr. Speaker. We are fighting back. That's what the next 28 days is all about and the leader of the opposition should help us to do it. The final supplementary. Speaker, once again, this government refused to act until it was too late. They refused to spend the money on making schools safe and now the schools are closed. They refused to spend the money to vaccinate essential frontline workers. And guess what? The vaccine or the spread of COVID-19 occurred in our province. They refused to make smaller class sizes in our schools. They refused to vaccinate frontline education workers. And now, of course, our schools are closed. My question is, when will this government undertake the measures necessary to deal with the crisis that we're in? When will they give us paid sick days? When will they give us, at workers, paid time off to get their vaccines? When will they make sure those essential frontline workers are getting vaccinated? When will this government get ahead of the crisis that we're all dealing with? Mr. Speaker, the leader of the opposition will know full well that this government inherited a mess from the previous liberal government and left us with the inability to fight the pandemic. Order. That is why we have to be on the defense for so long, Mr. Speaker. That is why we made important investments in healthcare. That is why we made important investments in long-term care. That is why the Minister of Finance has made important investments to keep our small, medium, and large job creators going. That is why the Premier fought so hard to ensure that there were 20 paid sick days for the people of the province of Ontario. That is why the Minister of Education ensured that there was over a billion and a half dollars for our students so that our schools could return safely, Mr. Speaker. That is what we have been doing since day one of this pandemic. And we are fighting back, Mr. Speaker. We are fighting back despite the fact that month after month, the federal government has disappointed us with vaccine supplies. We are fighting back and taking the vaccines that we got into the communities that are most impacted into those essential businesses and we're getting the job done. There's more work to do and we will get it done despite the leader of the opposition. Next question, Mr. Hamilton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Last week, the government announced the list of hotspots, but that list left out some of the hardest hits areas in Hamilton. Hamilton's chief medical officer asked that additional postal codes be added. She was denied, so she added them herself. Our public health units are trying to implement this government's announcement, but they need support. Right now, Hamilton is behind some of the neighbouring regions when it comes to vaccinating eligible groups. Will this government provide Hamilton public health whatever support that it actually needs to get this job done? The Parliamentary Assistant Member for Eglinton Lawrence to respond. Thank you, Speaker. Our government has been clear. Phase two of our vaccine rollout will be focused on older adults, those at risk of serious illness and our hotspot areas. And this approach is designed to save lives, protect those at risk of serious illness, and to stop the virus from spreading. And let me be clear, hotspots have been identified based on historic and ongoing rates of COVID-19, deaths, hospitalizations and transmissions, and on outbreak data, research and analysis conducted by the COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, low testing rates, sociodemographic barriers that may result in vaccine hesitancy. All of these things go into picking the hotspot areas, and we have a number of them picked out, and we have been going at those communities to try to make the vaccinations more widespread in those communities, including in communities that are represented by the MPP for Hamilton Mountain and the MPP for Hamilton West and Caster Dundas have been identified as hotspot areas. And as soon as we have more vaccines, we will be in more communities getting those vaccines out. Thank you, Speaker. Back to the Premier. When the government announced the list of hotspots, it also shared confusing information about who is eligible. I am constantly hearing from residents in my community who don't know if they're eligible and they don't know how to get an appointment. This government has to stop making policy by press conference and actually provide public health units the support they need. Hamilton is still working on identifying people with high-risk medical conditions. These residents are still waiting to get an appointment. Will the government provide Hamilton Public Health more support in getting this done instead of making their work harder and making confusing announcements? Thank you, Speaker. Our government has been clear. Phase two of our vaccine rollout will be focused, as I said, on older adults, those with serious illness and those in the hotspot areas. We also know that certain communities have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, and we understand that administering vaccines to people who live in these areas is critical to reducing the impact of COVID-19 as quickly as possible, which is why as part of our second phase of our vaccine rollout, we have identified specific hotspot areas in postal codes in 13 public health units around the province. Right now, anyone in Hamilton over the age of 50 in those hotspot areas can register and get a vaccine in those hotspot areas. And across the province at pharmacies, everyone over the age of 55 can get a vaccine. So there's lots of vaccines available. We want people to get out there and get the vaccines as quickly as possible. We're doing everything we can to make that happen in Hamilton and across the province. Thank you. The next question, the member for Flamborough, Glanbrook. Thank you and good morning, Mr. Speaker. Last week, our government issued an emergency stay at home order to continue to keep Ontarians safe. And that means more people will be forced to work from home, learn from a distance, and connect with loved ones virtually. To do this, they need access to the internet. But residents in Flamborough, Glanbrook, my writing, need better broadband. I'd like to share part of an email from a constituent in Linden. She writes, I am married with four children. I, along with most in my area, am struggling with getting adequate internet access at my home with heightened need for decent home internet because of online school and working from home due to COVID. My frustration is growing. This isn't the first time that I've received an email like this. And I look forward to the day when I receive the last of these messages. Mr. Speaker, when can I tell my constituents who are in dire need of internet that better connectivity is coming their way? To apply the Minister of Interest structure. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And the member is absolutely right. And I thank her for the question. There is no time more important than right now to get more households connected to high-speed internet. That's why we're taking a groundbreaking approach to build broadband faster so that everyone in Ontario can get reliable internet no matter where they live. It's undeniable that the lack of broadband internet is detrimental to the daily lives and livelihoods of too many Ontarians. Can you imagine that as many as 1.4 million people in Ontario live without broadband in this day and age? On this side of the house, that is 1.4 million people too many. That's why I introduced the Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act in 2021. This legislation addresses the onerous barriers faced by the telecommunications sector when it comes to building broadband faster. And I'm thrilled to say that finally this cornerstone legislation has been passed by the members of this house. Now the telecommunications sector can get those shovels moving and those households connected. Thank you. Please supplement your questions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A 2019 report by the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce on digital infrastructure notes that significant investments are needed to bring the current infrastructure up to speed. The President and CEO Kenan Lumis said in this digital age, the ongoing improvement to Hamilton's digital infrastructure is essential to the economic prosperity of our city. Businesses in Hamilton rely on high-speed, dependable, low-cost internet connectivity to operate and remain competitive. Although this report was written two years ago, the need for more internet connectivity still prevails and has been made much worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. And that's why I was pleased to learn that Ontario's 2021 budget commits an historic new investment of $2.8 billion in broadband infrastructure to ensure that every region has broadband services by 2025. Would the Minister please share with this house what we can expect from this investment? Again, the Minister of Infrastructure. Thank you very much to the member again for her question. Mr. Speaker, our government's primary focus is to protect every life and every job we possibly can from COVID-19. Without healthy people, we can't have a healthy economy. And that's why we introduced Ontario's Action Plan, protecting people's health and our economy. This is the next phase of Ontario's response to COVID-19. Part of the investments in the budget go directly to getting more Ontarians connected to the digital economy, ensuring that no one gets left behind. As the member noted, I'm proud this government is committing an additional $2.8 billion for a near total of $4 billion to accelerate broadband expansion across all regions of this province. Our historic investment will benefit regional economies, farmers who can connect and use technologies for their industry, entrepreneurs and small businesses. And the list goes on, Mr. Speaker. We're stepping up to the plate to fill the digital infrastructure gap left behind by members across the aisle. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question was to the Premier Speaker yesterday. We learned that lobbyists and longtime PC party insider Corey Tanecki apparently used his regularly scheduled caucus presentation time to warn conservative MPPs about leaking decisions to journalists before the Premier's press conferences. Speaker, Mr. Tanecki's firm is registered to lobby in Ontario on behalf of companies like Amazon. So his presence at caucus raises serious concerns about how the Premier makes his decision. So, Speaker, my question through you to the Premier is why when ICUs are overflowing, when schools are being canceled, when our small business community is collapsing and when COVID cases are burning out of control, why are you bringing in lobbyists to warn your MPPs about anything other than how badly you're handling this crisis? Thank you. The Member will know full well that the reason why we're having such a challenge and we had such a challenge in the first and second wave, Mr. Speaker, was because of the lack of investment that was made by the previous Liberal government across many different sectors, whether it was the healthcare sector, whether it was the colleges and universities, Mr. Speaker, whether it was the small businesses which were seen in the province of Ontario in droves, Mr. Speaker, we lost over 300,000 manufacturing jobs. And in 2018, the people elected a government that would focus on their priorities. Their priorities were job creation, healthcare, education, and in all of those areas, Mr. Speaker, before the pandemic, we saw thousands of jobs returning to the province of Ontario, Mr. Speaker. We're making historic investments in healthcare, Mr. Speaker, because we need to increase our ICU capacity that was left to us by the Liberals as one of the lowest per capita in North America, Mr. Speaker. We want to end hell away healthcare and we are going to do that. It is the NDP who as the member for Brampton South had said once, the only time the NDP are happy is when people are sad. We're going to make sure that people are happy. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is a question. Thank you very much, Speaker. The government of House leaders' response or spin rather, reminds me of our late, great friend, Paul Dewar. That answer was definitely face palm worthy. You give us nothing tangible in that answer. Speaker, the Premier told himself and everyone else yesterday that he never makes a decision himself. I guess that's what makes sense now that we know that lobbyists and PC party insiders are the ones who are really calling the shots around the caucus table. So again, my question to the Premier, Speaker, for the next meeting, can the Premier tell us whether he can convince Corey Tanecki or any other PC party insider turn lobbyists to put paid sick days or more support for hotspots on the agenda? We're just asking for an entire province here. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, ironic coming from a member of parliament who has accomplished the sum total of nothing in the time that he has been here, Mr. Speaker. It took this government, this Minister of Health, this Premier to finally get a hospital for the people of Windsor Asset, Mr. Speaker, something that they had bought for for so long, Mr. Speaker. It was not a priority when the NDP shared government with the Liberals and the minority in the minority area, Mr. Speaker. It was never priority. Long term care was never priority of that member and of the NDP when they shared government with the Liberals, Mr. Speaker. It was auto insurance and they settled for what? A stretch goal, Mr. Speaker. This is a party, the NDP that has never been trusted to govern the province of Ontario, but one time. And they were so bad at it that the then Premier abandoned their party to join the Liberal Party, Mr. Speaker. And they have never, ever come close to gaining the confidence of the people of the province of Ontario, Mr. Speaker. We have a new method job, Mr. Speaker. Order. The next question, the member for Ottawa. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Today, there are 623 patients in Ontario's ICUs and today's COVID positivity rate in Ontario is a dangerously high 10.3%. Guaranteeing that ICU admissions are going to continue to rise. ICU doctors and nurses and staff have been working flat out for a year. They're exhausted. They're tired. They're burnt out. And yesterday, the minister said, we're going to add another 350 ICU beds. Those beds will require staff, staff that we do not have. As critical care doctor Michael Warner says, eventually we'll run out of space to move patients because we don't have the staff to care for them. So once again, it feels like we're not ready and that there's no clear plan. So Speaker, through you, can the Premier assure Ontarians that we'll have enough trained staff to support the additional ICU beds that are going to be required for the rest of this pandemic? To reply to the government House Leader, how can this member representing a party that governed this province for 15 years, a member who was the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health, get up and criticize this government which has had to do everything in its power to catch up because of what we were left. We inherited a system that had one of the lowest ICU capacities per capita in North America. We inherited a system that did not have a staffing protocol, Mr. Speaker. We inherited a system that allowed us to do 5,000 tests a day. And what have we done? We've invested in ICU capacity. We're increasing it. We've added 3,000 beds to the system. We've added critical care capacity to the system. We've took our testing from 5,000 to 75,000, Mr. Speaker. We're doing that for the people of the province of Ontario because even before we were elected, we knew the devastation that liberal cuts to healthcare were causing the people of the province of Ontario. It's not just about new hospitals and Windsor to come, it's not just about new hospitals in Brant and Mr. Speaker. It's about making investments to make the system better for the long term. Thank you. Stop with a massive question. Mr. Speaker, I think we need to take it down a notch or two today about what's happening with Ontario. And I want to talk about something a little closer to home. We know the danger of the variants in the third wave, but every day in this place, we ask 300 people to come into this building on public transit, walking, and it poses a risk for them. Now we've asked the opposition, all three leaders have asked for a virtual question period. We do virtually committee, municipalities, the federal government, legislations across the province are doing that. I implore the government to make some plans for that. But more importantly, there is no threshold by which we decide when we pull the trigger on closing this place down. So we don't pose risk to all these people who are here, people who have helped us every day as members, people who come here every day to protect us, to inform us. It's not right. Question. So, speakers through you, will the government house leader commit to meeting with us to make some plans for about when we pull the trigger and how we manage that after. Thank you. Order. Order. The government house leader. First, the floor. Mr. Speaker, I'll say this. There is no other provincial legislature that has gone virtual, Mr. Speaker. The member opposite will know that because the previous liberal government made absolutely no investments in the running of the legislative assembly, it is the investments that we have had to make that will allow our committee rooms to be made public through video conferencing, Mr. Speaker. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, I will remind the Honorable General that this House passed a motion, one of the first things it passed when we returned, it passed a motion that took away the right of me to adjourn the House and put it in the hands of all of the house leaders. So, the protocol is this, Mr. Speaker, which he agreed to, which was unanimously agreed to in this House, Mr. Speaker, that if it should be required, all house leaders will approach the speaker and we will pass a motion to adjourn the House, Mr. Speaker. But I will say this. As long as essential frontline workers are going to work, as long as you can get a coffee at Tim Hortons, as long as ECE people are working, Mr. Speaker, I think the people of the province of Ontario expect their members of provincial parliament who are making incredibly important decisions for them to be here working and we will continue to do that in a safe way, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Order. Order. Order. Stop the clock. Minister of Labor, come to order. Minister of Labor, Training and Skills Development, come to order. Member for Ottawa's South, come to order. Forget about that part. Tim Hortons working right now. Minister of Labor is warned. Member for Ottawa's South is warned. The next question. The member for Bradford, Sarnia Lampton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My speaker, my speaker. My question is to the Minister of Children and Youth. Mr. Speaker, for your family of children and youth with special needs have struggled to access the clinical assessment and services their children need. These are not new problems. Many of us on this side of the House watched for over a decade as demand grew and the previous Liberal government continued to underfund the system. Families have been challenged even further by COVID-19, which has made accessing appropriate supports and services especially difficult for those caring for children with special needs. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister tell this House what the government is doing to address the challenges that families of children with special needs are facing? Thank you. Mr. Children, Community and Social Services. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thanks very much to the member from Sarnia Lampton for a great question this morning. Speaker, supporting children with special needs and their families is a top priority for our government. Not just during COVID-19, but beyond, Speaker. We announced a number of new initiatives that are going to improve the lives and outcomes of children and youth with special needs in Ontario through Budget 2021, which was introduced by our great Finance Minister, Minister Bethlyn Falvey just a few short weeks ago. These include significant investments in buildings, Mr. Speaker, like brand-new Children's Treatment Centers in Chatham-Kent and also the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario at CHEO in Ottawa, a renewed investment as well to the Abilities Centre in Whitman, Mr. Speaker, but we didn't stop there. We announced a groundbreaking investment of $240 million over four years to ensure that children and families have access to early intervention and children's special needs, Mr. Speaker. And I look forward to talking about more. So that's a metric question. Remember to sign the election. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and through you and through you to the Minister, I'm very glad to hear about the fact, focus our government has placed on sharing that children and families have access to early intervention and children's special needs services. Speaker, the science shows that children's special needs services are most effective and result in better outcomes for children and families when they include early intervention. Proactive life planning and support for families. Would the Minister please provide this house with more details on how this new investment and whether we'll address these critical areas? Thank you. Member for York Centre, Tom Doherty, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. Thanks again to the member from Sarnia Lampden. Speaker, that member is absolutely correct as he usually is. Early intervention is a critical piece in delivering children's special needs services. Our new investment will focus on areas key to improving long term outcomes for both children with special needs and their families, providing early and timely connection to supports, proactive and holistic life planning speaker and supports for natural transitions such as into school and also into adulthood. Focusing on these areas will help families access services earlier, improving the quality of available services and get better results for families in areas like community inclusion, as well as participation and success in education and employment. Speaker, improving the quality and accessibility of supports and children with special needs is a top priority for our government and will continue making progress on improving the system to get better outcomes for those kids. Mr. Speaker. Next question, the member for Sarnia Lampden. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, the NDP had cautioned the Premier. There are questions for the Premier, Speaker. The NDP had cautioned the Premier and the Minister of Colleges and Universities about massive cuts to Laurentian for months and instead of taking action to protect Northern Ontario, the Conservative Party chose to stand on the sidelines and do nothing. Yesterday over 100 faculty members received termination notices at Laurentian University. The university is also cutting nearly 70 programs, including whole departments, many of which are unique Indigenous and Francophone programs, which Laurentian is mandated to support. Speaker, the cutting programs are like engineering, math, economics, entrepreneurship, nursing and midwifery. Laurentian University is suddenly third largest speaker. My question is, how is the Premier going to address the many people who are losing their jobs amidst the pandemic because the government refused to fund and protect this public university? The member for Northamberland, Peterborough South and Parliamentary System. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Indeed, it is deeply disturbing. The situation Laurentian University has found itself in a situation where such drastic and immediate action is needed to ensure long-term sustainability. Obviously, Mr. Speaker, the priority of this government continues to be the students and the families affected by this, Mr. Speaker. It's why as a government, Mr. Speaker, in addition to obviously looking into this specific issue at Laurentian University as a government, we continue to expand funding for Francophone supports. We expand funding for Indigenous supports as an institution. This deeply concerning situation, Mr. Speaker, is before the courts, so it would be inappropriate to comment further. Thank you. The member for Nickel Belt, supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. Right now in my community, instead of being focused on their final project and studying for their year-end exam, Laurentian students are worried about their future. The Minister of College and University keep promising that the conservative government would protect Laurentian students and ensure that their studies were not disrupted. However, thousands of students woke up Monday morning to learn that their program, their entire department had been caught, that their teacher, their supervisor, their mentors had been laid off. La Laurentienne est désignée sous la loi sur les services en français. The Laurentian University is designated under the law for Francophone services. Will the government respect this act or will the Francophone community will have to drag them to court so that they can respect their own act? Mr. Speaker, this government remains resolute in ensuring pathways to graduation for all students. That is exactly what we will do. Mr. Speaker, with respect to Francophone programming that the member opposite spoke about, let's talk about that. 17.6 million to expand French language supports for the post-secondary sector. 74 million to support over 30,000 students who enroll in French language and programming across Ontario. Moving forward with Ontario's first ever Francophone University governed by and for Francophones. Ten other post-secondary institutions that provide hundreds of French language programming across the province of Ontario. Mr. Speaker, it's those members that voted against expanded supports for our Indigenous institutes that voted against increased funding for those institutes and that have voted against supports for historic reductions in tuition that are benefitting Francophone students, Indigenous students and all Ontarians across this province. Mr. Speaker, that's their record which they'll have to defend to students in their writings. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. The next question, the member for Ottawa. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Health. Last week I wrote to the minister to ask for improved vaccine accessibility in my writing of Ottawa, Vanier that has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Over the last five months, the neighbourhoods of Vanier and Overbrook in my writing have had the third highest total of individuals with COVID-19 in Ottawa. Since then, we've learned that a number of the hotspot communities identified by the government to receive priority vaccines are less hard hit by COVID-19 than the average neighbourhood. These are frustrating news for residents in high-risk areas and we need transparency on how the government has made these decisions. Can the minister explain what data was used to identify which communities would be prioritised to receive the vaccine? To reply on behalf of the government. Member for Eglinton Lawrence and Parliamentary Assistant. Thank you, Speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question. As I said earlier, our government has been clear. Phase two of our vaccine rollout is focused on older adults. Those at risk of serious illness and our hotspot areas and the approaches designed to save lives protect those at risk of serious illness and to stop the virus from spreading. Let me be clear. Hotspots have been identified based on historic and ongoing high rates of COVID-19 deaths, hospitalisations and transmission. And I'd like to point out to the member opposite that these communities were identified based not only on the high rates of COVID-19 but also on outbreak data, research and analysis conducted by the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, low testing rates and socio-demographic barriers that may result in vaccine hesitancy. Of course, as we get more vaccines, we're going to be able to open up to more areas. We want to get vaccines out to every community as quickly as possible and in the arms of every Ontarian as soon as possible. We're working hard to make that happen. Mr. Speaker and again, my questions for the Minister of Health, it's clear that the government's choices of hotspot communities were not enforced by all the necessary data. For example, in Ottawa, our local unit had not identified any high priority neighbourhoods in one of the hotspot regions this government chose and was in fact doing pretty well compared to others. So my question is, will the Minister commit to working with local public health units to identify high risk communities and designate hotspots to improve access to vaccines in vulnerable neighbourhoods to control the spread of COVID-19? The parliamentary assistant. Thank you, Speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question. Our entire strategy works with local public health units. We've worked with local public health units from the beginning. We know that they know the situation on the ground in their communities and that's why we're working together. Although some people have suggested that's not the right way to approach things. We believe it is because local public health units have on the ground knowledge. As of April 11th almost 98% of those 80 or older have received a vaccine and over 22% have received their second dose in the Ottawa area. And it should be noted that last year Ottawa was one of the first public health units to receive a shipment of the Pfizer vaccine in the province. We're working very hard on all vaccines across the province and I want to point out that right now 87% of Ontarians 80 and over have been vaccinated. 80% of Ontarians 75 to 79 have been vaccinated and 60% of Ontarians 70 to 74 have been vaccinated. We're working very hard to get the vaccines out to people especially in priority areas we're only constrained by our supply. Thank you. Thank you. Next question the member for Flamborille Blamborille. Thank you Speaker and we all know that this past year has been very difficult on all Ontarians including staff and students that are post-secondary institutions. Speaker I'm proud that our government has always always put students at the centre of our education policy and that has not changed during the pandemic. In particular I was pleased that our government was making post-secondary education more accessible for Indigenous learners. Can the Minister please provide an update to this house on what the government is doing to support access to education for Indigenous learners. The member for Northumberland Peterborough South parliamentary system. Thank you Speaker and I want to thank the member for Flamborille Blamborille for that really important question. She's absolutely right Mr. Speaker it's so vital that we continue to work closely with our Indigenous Institutes to support them as institutions and to support the learners that walk their hallways. Mr. Speaker the government's increased access to education by expanding OSAP eligibility for programs at Indigenous Institutes starting in 2020-2021. The financial assistance will help ensure Indigenous learners have access to a culturally responsive and high-quality post-secondary education experience. We will prepare them to meet the labour market needs for tomorrow. Mr. Speaker this is an important step as previously students didn't have that access. Mr. Speaker we're going to continue to find ways to support our Indigenous students across the province of Ontario and work closely with our Indigenous Institutes to explore increasing labour market opportunities. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Speaker. I'm very proud that our government is taking concrete steps to support Ontario's Indigenous population by supporting access to culturally responsive and high-quality post-secondary education offered by Indigenous Institutes and independent of other Ontario colleges and universities. Would the Minister elaborate on why this important work by our government is so necessary in supporting Ontario's Indigenous learners. Parliamentary Assistant. Thank you Mr. Speaker. And I want to thank the member for that important question. Again, a speaker we know that we've must expand post-secondary education opportunities for Indigenous learners. Mr. Speaker, we know that approximately 53% of Indigenous peoples aged 15 or aged 25 to 64 hold a post-secondary credential compared to 65% of the non-Indigenous population according to the 2016 census. Mr. Speaker, thanks to the remarkable work of our Indigenous institutes, thanks to the remarkable work of elders of others who've informed the curriculum there, enrollment in our Indigenous institutes has increased by nearly 40% since 2018. Something I desperately hope the members of the opposition would support and not heckle as well. Mr. Speaker, our government believed it was necessary to take important steps to support our Indigenous institutes by expanding OSAP eligibility, Mr. Speaker. In addition, we've expanded capital funding order for our Indigenous institutes, Mr. Speaker. As Minister Romano noted, there is widespread agreement by Indigenous leaders, communities and education professionals that investing in culturally responsive learning in post-secondary education opportunities for Indigenous learners will have tremendous benefit. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. The next question to the member from the Schiegerwacht James Bay. Thank you, Mr. President. My question is for you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With gold prices soaring, there are 4,000 mining claims in the territories of grassy narrows First Nation, north of Canora. Meanwhile, two sites of potential mercury contaminations poisoning the rivers, the wildlife and the people of grassy narrows has yet to be acted on by this conservative government. Will the premier please tell the people of grassy narrows in Ontario? Does he think that being open for business should come at the expense of the health of the people of grassy narrows? And my next leader. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, mercury contamination in the English and the Wabagon rivers has had a profound impact on the communities and must be properly addressed. The member will know that Indigenous communities are assessing and location of mercury contamination using funding approved by the English and Wabagon rivers remediation panel from the 85 million dollar trust. The ministry is holding Domtar responsible for assessing the extent of the mercury contamination in and around the mill site including addressing the infrastructure and storm water management issues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The supplementary question. Speaker, back to the premier. Another star investigation with the support of the community has again undertaken to do what this and the previous government never bothered to do. And that is clear out of the contaminate and contaminated soil that was found behind the dried and mill in the exact spot where a former mill worker reported dumping barrels of mercury. Instead, this government has been quick to consider mining claims while the fish are still unsafe to eat. The people of grass and arrows are hesitant to drink the water. Will the premier commit today to honor the land declaration that grass and arrows enacted in 2018 to ban industrial or mining activities on their territories? And as Chief Randy Forbister told me let my people live in peace. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Of course, we'll continue to work with our First Nations partners not only in this, but across whether it's housing, whether it's education, whether it's healthcare on our First Nations with our First Nations partners, Mr. Speaker. Look, we are going to continue to work closely with them because we understand how important it is that to develop in the North, but we understand how important it is to do it safely. That is why the Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines has been working so closely with our partners in the area. It is a source of jobs and opportunity for our First Nations partners in that area, but the member is quite correct. It has to be done safely. It has to be done in cooperation with our partners in the area. He is also very correct that the previous Liberal government failed the North, failed our First Nations communities. We're going to continue to advance policies in the North that benefit not only our First Nations partners, but benefit all of the people in the province chair. We're going to do it in a way, in a manner that respects the rights of our First Nations partners. Thank you. The next question, a member for York Center. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Health. Speaker, the Minister of Lockdown in our province and is now risking the lives of thousands of Ontarians by cancelling surgeries to preserve intensive care units from being overwhelmed. So Ontarians deserve to know. They deserve some clarity about the number of available and occupied ICU beds. And I'm only talking about ICU beds now. I'm not looking for an answer on acute care beds or the 3100 acute care beds they built last year. But the real ICU numbers right now, critical care services says Ontario has 2412 ICU beds, 2412. On the weekend, CCSO showed 1851 patients in Ontario's ICUs. That puts provincial ICU occupancy at 76%. My question to the Minister, am I correct? Just over 2400 beds, 1851 patients on the weekend equals 76% provincial ICU capacity. And if I'm incorrect, which one of those numbers I cited is wrong? And what is the real number? And if I am correct, then please confirm that Ontario's ICU occupancy before she cancelled surgeries was under 80% the parliamentary assistant and Member for Eglinton Lawrence. Thank you Speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question. You know, from the start of the pandemic our government's top priority has been to protect the health and well-being of all Ontarians and in response to escalating case counts which have led to increased hospitalizations and ICU occupancy rates which are already over the peak of the wave too. Our government has implemented a stay-at-home and declared a state of emergency the stay-at-home order and other new and existing public health and workplace safety measures will preserve our public health system capacity safeguard our vulnerable vulnerable populations and allow for more progress to be made with vaccinations to save lives. I'd like to remind the member opposite that to ensure that everyone who requires care in a hospital receives the high-quality care that they know and expect we've invested 1.8 billion dollars in the hospital sector for 2021-22 bringing the total additional investments in hospitals since the start of the pandemic to over billion dollars. And recently on January 18 we provided 125 million dollars to expand critical care beds adding over 500 critical care beds and I'll have more in the supplemental thank you speaker. Thank you speaker the answer the non-answer speaks for itself if the minister Lux is down at home imposes a stay-at-home order and closes schools and cancelled surgeries because ICUs may be overwhelmed the parliamentary assistance should come to the house prepared to give us an answer Ontario's ICU occupancy is under before the cancellation of surgeries yes or no maybe the member Fregland and Lawrence can answer that in the supplementary to my second question we're locking down everything and cancelling surgeries because ICU may be overwhelmed according to this government if so whose fault is it space is not a concern according to Dr. Benoit many of Ontario's ICU trained physicians don't have full-time jobs according to Dr. Strauss most ICU doctors in Ontario are underemployed the shortage appears to be in nurses right before the second wave the province laid off some nurses including in the minister's own writing in September the issued pink slips to nurses a new market speaker speaker it takes four months to train an ICU nurse sorry it takes four months to train a nurse to become an ICU nurse so my question is and I'd like a clear answer please how many net new nurses how many net new ICU nurses did Ontario train in the last 12 months thank you to member opposite for the question our hospitals and healthcare organizations respond to any potential surge event in covid 19 patients and we're also allowing for the redeployment of healthcare workers to sites experiencing significant capacity pressures these efforts with the ramping down of elective surgeries and other non-urgent or emergent clinical activity will add an additional 700 to 1000 beds with 350 coming online this week and ensure that our health system has the tools and resources needed to provide world-class care to every ontarian who requires hospitalization and that is our commitment to the people of ontario that's what we're working on we're working with all of our healthcare resources to provide a team-based approach to providing those services and the health human resources we need in the icu units across the province and we're going to make sure that people have the care that they need when they appear in hospital I think everyone understands that's the priority member for work center will come to order the next question the member for York Southwest Thank you Mr. Speaker I have stood in this house my question is to the premier I stood in this house many times is speaking about how my community of York Southwest has been neglected and left behind in this government's covered response it took until September 28 of last year to get a cover testing facility in York Southwest and our community facility a for scene facility in my writing my office has been involved helping Humber River Hospital with pop-up clinics some at senior buildings now I hear reports from families that the government pop-up rollouts in our community is being met with chaos and confusion about when where and how to get registered or book an appointment when is the government going to get it is act together and realize Ontario is not doing great and everything isn't fine people's lives are at stake again Humber for Huggins and Laws parliamentary system thank you thank you to the member opposite for the question our government has been clear our vaccine rollout is focused now on phase two older adults and those at risk of serious illness in and those in hotspot areas like the member opposites community we also know that COVID-19 has disproportional impacts on certain neighborhoods like your community and we understand that administering vaccine to people who live in these areas is critical to reducing the impact of COVID-19 as quickly as possible I was at the opening of the Downsview arena vaccine center with Humber River I understand Humber River is working with the Black Creek community health center to set up a immunization clinic going in and I read about immunizations happening in your community in the newspapers recently we're doing everything we can to ensure order that vaccines are being delivered and administered in your community and to make sure that people get the vaccines as quickly as possible any supplementary question Q my question is again to the premier folks in my community over the ages 18 and above cannot book an appointment in our own community I coat the premiere Ontario is not doing great now everything is not fine in fact this government is always a day late and dole shoot in a risk of it response hot sports and high risk communities like York Southwest are treated like an afterthought instead of an urgent priority why this inequities and why are our residents those essential workers and seniors not getting equal access to for scenes from the government when will you fix them your pop and for scene facility thank you to the member opposite thank you speaker for the question it's really everybody is getting vaccines as quickly as we're able to deliver them the number one issue is how many vaccines are available and we're still having some issue with supply many resources are going into that community including the Downsview arena which was opened up recently with Humber River Hospital as I mentioned before and there'll be pop up community clinics available as public health units have the resources and the vaccines to go into those communities they're moving around and the vaccine availability in those communities will be advertised locally to the people in those communities and also today that they have been knocking on doors in some communities and bringing people down and that's what's going to happen we're getting out there as quickly as we can to all of those communities when we have the vaccine supply thank you next question the member for Glen Gary for Scott Russell thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister of Education to parents across Ontario telling them that all publicly funded schools were safe then one day later the Premier closed them for weeks Mr. Speaker the constant contradictory messaging from the Minister and the Premier is putting our children and education workers at risk it's time to end the chaos once and for all by making schools safe when will the Minister adopt the expert recommendations like capping class sizes at 15 investing in urgent repairs to ventilation in classrooms and vaccinating all education workers over the April break so that schools stay open for good after this closure Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker under our plan Ontario has one of the lowest case rates in the nation for children under 20 that is because we put the investments in place we follow the medical advice and we've led in that respect the only reason why schools are closed today and the member knows this is because community transmission has spiked the 70 average is well over 3000 we have a fourth recommendation for this closure recognizing we're pivoting to online learning there's the continuity of learning for these kids which is important and of course they continue to get access to mental health supports we recognize the necessity of children being in school but we also recognize as I think all members of this house and I would argue all parents recognize that we were not going to get into COVID-19 so we made a difficult decision and a decisive on quickly pivoting as required in a pandemic to protect the lives of families we will continue to do that Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. President Mr. President the Minister is talking about online learning as if it were an option everywhere in this province but it isn't the reality is all Mr. President in several rural regions it's not possible in many rural regions we need security and safety in classes we have to invest in better ventilation in classes we have to vaccinate all the teachers today why the government refused to use the April break to vaccinate everybody why do they continue to ignore the expert Mr. President Mr. Speaker the government has created to getting every frontline worker within our schools and chakra settings a vaccine how the member opposite could help us constructively to call her federal liberal members and urge them to get this province the vaccine we need to defeat this pandemic if the liberal party wants to be constructive they will work with us and urge the feds to get the province and our communities particularly those in high risk communities the vaccine we need to defeat for example a case study is based on the limited supply of this province we've had to focus in on starting with vaccinations for special education students province-wide and for education staff within the high-risk neighbourhoods in Toronto and then we intend to expand it to Durham to York to Hamilton and Ottawa and then of course province-wide if we had more vaccine we would have opened it up to every so that every worker every educator every Ontarian gets the vaccine they deserve here's the next question America Toronto says Thank you Speaker my questions for the Premier Shane is a retail worker in my riding with an underlying health condition Shane contacted my office last week frustrated that he still had no idea when he'd be getting his vaccine Shane lives in the M4Y postal code which was not included on the province's list of COVID hotspots in the city a community with higher infection rates than the postal codes that were prioritized in PC held ridings and I'm particularly struck by the cruelty of this government speaker that is politically gerrymandering vaccines but worse but worse doing so without taking into account the historical of queer and trans communities that were abandoned by every level of government during the last pandemic this community went through during the AIDS crisis speaker our local hospital and public health unit recognized the historical harms that were done and the high risk of this community and have been working to fix the province's mess M4Y residents are now eligible for vaccines at pop up sites but residents are still confused and exasperated by this government's slow and sloppy roll out why did the premier announced that he would prioritize postal codes with no plan in his time for the city of Trump and the nation facts for the community if it is a sprinkle of things that have been West and Caster Dundas. I'm only reading out NDP MPPs here just for the public. MPP for Niagara Falls, MPP for Ottawa South, sorry that's a liberal, MPP for Brampton East, MPP for Brampton North, MPP for Brampton Centre, MPP for Guelph, MPP for Windsor West, MPP for Windsor to Cumsay, MPP for Essex, MPP for Scarborough Guildwood, MPP for Scarborough South West, MPP for York Centre, MPP for Dawn Valley East, MPP for Dawn Valley West, MPP for Humber River, Black Creek, MPP for York South West. Thank you very much. Question periods all.