 It is now time for question period. Member from Nipissing. Thank you very much, Speaker, and good morning. Good morning, Premier. My question is for you this morning. Later today, the Auditor General will present her annual report to the legislature. It will include a look at your government's accounting practices and the province's debt burden, which you've more than doubled in the past 11 years, to almost $300 billion. Your wasteful politicized spending now means you pay $11 billion of interest instead of investing that money in health care, education, transit, and infrastructure. Premier, your government gets drafts of these audits in advance. So what's this year's equivalent of the billion-dollar gas plant scandal? Is it going to be Mars? Is it going to be smart meters? Premier, how much are we adding today to your government's growing record of fiscal waste? Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to the Auditor General's annual report. It will be tabled later this afternoon as the member opposite recognizes. Mr. Speaker, the opposition is heckling that we're not looking forward to it. In fact, I believe that the Auditor General plays a very important role in terms of shining a light on issues that need to be addressed by government. I welcome her input. Order? We welcome accountability, Mr. Speaker, and the existence of an... The member from next ring will hold order. And the work that she does is the definition of accountability, Mr. Speaker. And in fact, because we welcome accountability, that's why we are moving to pass Bill 8 today, Mr. Speaker, which I believe will provide unprecedented transparency. I believe that the Ombudsman is somewhere in... The Ombudsman is here with us. And so the accountability that is already in place will be enhanced, Mr. Speaker, as we move towards the passage of Bill 8. That's right. Thank you, Speaker. Well, Premier, let's take a look at your typical response to the Auditor's reports. Last year, the AG gave you a failing grade on the massive backlog for autism treatment, slow ambulance service, and mandated school lunches that kids are now rejecting in favor of fast food. On all counts, you failed to take her report seriously. She also took aim at your creative accounting with Ontario Northland. You claimed a savings of $265 million by divesting Ontario Northland, yet the Auditor said it would actually cost $820 million. Premier, that's a billion-dollar fallacy that you are happy to perpetuate. People demand accountability from government. Premier, will you commit today to take the recommendations of the Auditor seriously to act with the force and focus we all expect from their Premier? Absolutely, Mr. Speaker. We will absolutely take the Auditor General's report seriously. We always do take the Auditor General's report seriously, Mr. Speaker. And in fact, act on the recommendations, the suggestions that the Auditor General makes, and work with the Auditor General. I think that is a key part of this, Mr. Speaker, is to recognize that the Auditor General brings a new set of eyes to the operation of government, Mr. Speaker, and works with ministries to understand what it is that ministries are doing to mitigate the concerns that she may have, but also to work with the ministry to point to how we might... There seems to be an ongoing conversation between the President of the Treasury Board and the member from Leeds-Grendel. It'll stop. Finish, please. To look forward as to how we might work to address the concerns that the Auditor General raises. That's the natural course of the relationship between government and the Auditor General. All governments, Mr. Speaker. We take her report seriously and we look forward to it this afternoon. Thank you. Final supplementary. Premier, the Auditor isn't alone in passing judgment of your risky financial management. Statscans says that between 2008 and 2012, Ontario ran accumulated deficits of $84 billion. That's 10 times more than the next province, BC, at $8 billion. Lakehead University's Livio DiMaggio says this makes Ontario the worst economic performer in the country. He calls it a travesty and that your policies of, quote, driven down private investment, suppressed productivity and economic growth, killed job needs and caused a deterioration of public finances. Premier, we want prosperity, better quality of life and accountability in government. Isn't it time to stop politicking and make Ontario first? Thank you, Premier. So, Mr. Speaker, I think that's a great idea. Let's stop politicking. Let's look at the reality that Ontario has been the number one destination for foreign direct investment, Mr. Speaker. Let's look at the reality, more than 500,000 net new jobs since the economic downturn, Mr. Speaker. Let's look at the reality that in the second half of question period... Dr. Clark, please. I found it rather quiet when the question was being put. I want the same for the answer. Please. The reality that in the second half of question period there will inevitably be questions from the same party about investments in the talent and skills of the people in their writings, infrastructure in their writings, Mr. Speaker, partnership with businesses in their writings. Those questions come in the second part of question period because, essentially, the people across the floor understand that the pillars of our plan, the investments that people need in their constituencies are exactly what we need to do to restore the economy in Ontario to keep us on track. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Remember from the other side. Back to the Premier. Over the past two weeks, we've been hearing from scores of small businesses all over this province. Their message has been clear. They want relief from this government for businesses to thrive and succeed. Relief from crushing red tape. Mr. Speaker, agriculture, come to order. Relief from skyrocketing energy prices. Relief from new payroll taxes like the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan you're planning to ram through this legislature. 94% of small businesses want you to cut red tape. 93% want relief from skyrocketing energy rates. And over half say your pension tax will result in them cutting jobs. Premier, why don't you... Minister of Agriculture, come to order. Second time. Premier. Very much, Mr. Speaker. I certainly will look to the Minister of Economic Development and Employment and Infrastructure because small businesses in Ontario have partnered with this government very well and there are small businesses across Ontario that have benefited from investments like the Regional Development Funds, Mr. Speaker, like investments in technology and have benefited from the very well-educated workforce that we have, Mr. Speaker, that allows them to expand. But, Mr. Speaker, I just want to address the issue of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan and from what the member opposite is saying, I guess he would call the Canada Pension Plan attacks because what we're talking about is not attacks, Mr. Speaker. We're talking about a plan that would allow people to put money aside so that they would have retirement security. Just as the Canada Pension Plan allows for that, Mr. Speaker, we know people need this. We know that people across, in fact, across the country are not saving enough for their retirement. We are going to take action, Mr. Speaker, because there are people in Nipissing who need this plan. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, the most heinous example of you not listening to small business is your new pension tax. Here's what Ian Lee at Carleton University tells us. He says, by forcing employees and employers to take money out of their pockets for your pension scheme, will, quote, hurt the economy, quote, eliminates the discretion of taxpayers and reduces the amount that can be invested where they want. This is not a policy that helps Ontarians. This is not a policy that grows our economy. And it's not a policy that makes it easier for small businesses to stay alive and make Ontario first. Premier, will you do the right thing and put your flawed pension tax back on the shelf? I'm a social minister of finance responsibility for the Ontario retirement pension plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the member opposite knows full well that this is not attacks. In fact, this is an investment in the future of Ontario, people's futures, and a long-term enhancement to our economy, Mr. Speaker, that will support 3 million Ontarians that do not currently have a workplace-based pension plan. In the past few weeks, in fact, Mr. Speaker, studies have underscored the importance of closing the savings gap. This is a real challenge that we cannot ignore. We have to take leadership, Mr. Speaker. According to the Conference Board of Canada, six out of 10 Canadians are not currently saving for retirement, and in fact, have feel that they are ill-prepared to retire at all. The member from Prince Edward Hastings is in touch with me. Please finish. Without action today, this has the potential to stagnate growth and to create economic uncertainty. Mr. Speaker, we cannot allow that. We are taking action with the Ontario. Thank you. Premier, all Ontarians deserve to work towards a comfortable retirement. But there are other ways a government can help make that reality rather than new taxes. When your couple energy prices set to soar 42 percent and 11 billion dollars... Stop the clock. The Minister of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs is warned. Please finish. Add an 11 billion dollar annual red tape burden and a WSIB tax costing contractors up to $6,000 a year. It's no wonder we lost 2,700 small businesses in Ontario last year alone. This is not how we help small business. It's how you turned Ontario into a have not province. Given the reduced growth forecast and last month's dismal job report, are you ready to risk more jobs to save your own? Premier, how does running the most expensive jurisdiction in the province help Ontario first? Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is not dealing with the facts. The fact is that this government is continuing to work to strengthen our economy today while making the necessary decisions to ward off a problem that we see on the horizon. Mr. Speaker, our government is confident that we are supporting the needs of business today. Ontario is the first dirt station in North America for foreign direct investment. Ontario's tax system, in fact, is the lowest and most competitive of any OECD country and is the low immense to build Ontario up so that when people retire they will have a predictable consistent stream of income that they will continue to spend in Ontario's economy. And that, Mr. Speaker, is what we need to do to strengthen Ontario's economic spirit. Can you say that, please? New question, the leader of the third party. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. The Liberal government is cutting childcare in this province. Sudbury's municipal daycare manager says their budget was cut by $2 million, Speaker, and he says another $3 million cut could be on the way. The Liberal minister says that she doesn't understand the problem. Well, let me explain. Liberal cuts mean that municipal daycare centres are closing and moms and dads are left lying awake at night trying to figure out where their children are going to be getting their childcare provided from. My question is, why is this Premier closing down childcare centres in Ontario? Well, Mr. Speaker, what this government is doing is actually opening spaces in full-day kindergarten, Mr. Speaker, that mean that tens of thousands of children are going to have access to that full-day kindergarten program, Mr. Speaker, that otherwise they would not have had. In addition, Mr. Speaker, as we have said, the Child Care Modernization Act that has passed through this legislature, Mr. Speaker, has the potential to open up 6,000 new spaces, Mr. Speaker, licensed safe spaces, Mr. Speaker, to allow more families in the province to have access to childcare. So, quite the contrary to what the leader of the third party is saying, Mr. Speaker, we have worked with the childcare sector. We recognize that the implementation of full-day kindergarten has meant that there is a transition in the childcare provision, Mr. Speaker, but thousands more children have access to safe, affordable childcare and full-day kindergarten because of the policies of this government. It sounds a little bit like the children's dental plan that the Liberals pretended wasn't being cut the other day. The Liberals talk a lot about investing in childcare, but here's the reality. The Liberal government is cutting childcare across Ontario. The latest example is Sudbury. New investments, Mr. Speaker, are nowhere to be found. The municipal daycare manager says that Sudbury hasn't seen... Order. Please finish. The municipal daycare manager speaker in Sudbury hasn't seen, quote, any new dollars or new investment. It means moms and dads in Sudbury are worried and rightfully so, Speaker. They shouldn't have to worry about whether their child will have care next week, next month or next year. So is the Premier proud, Speaker, of shutting down childcare spaces and leaving parents in the lurch in Sudbury? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, let me just address a couple of issues. First of all, the drive-by swipe that the leader of the third party made on the Healthy Smiles program, the fact is, Mr. Speaker, that 70,000 more children are going to be able to get dental care because if the party is just wrong in terms of kids losing that care, Mr. Speaker, we have made certain that children who are receiving dental care today will receive dental care on an ongoing way, Mr. Speaker. Those kids are not losing the care. It's very clear in the program that we have put in place those cuts are not happening. So she was wrong on that, Mr. Speaker, and she's wrong on childcare. The fact is that since 2003, a 90% increase in funding has gone into childcare, Mr. Speaker, close to a billion dollars. We have moved from 532 million to nearly a billion dollars, Mr. Speaker. There has been a consistent increase in childcare funding. I don't know the situation in Sudbury, and I know why the member opposite is talking about it. Thank you. Final supplementary. Finding affordable childcare in Ontario is already a nightmare for parents. In the Southwest, Sarnia families watched as Coronation Park Day Nursery closed its doors just last month. In the North, Sudbury families are bracing for the closure of their municipal childcare centre. And in Eastern Ontario, the Queen's Day Care in Kingston has a waitlist of 500 children, Speaker, but instead of seeing investment, they've lost 137 spaces, notwithstanding the fact that they have 500 kids on their waitlist. Childcare spaces across Ontario are disappearing, and families don't know what to do. It's creating chaos. It hurts children, and it hurts parents and families. Now, I want to know, does this Liberal Premier really think it's progressive to be shutting down public, not-for-profit childcare spaces across this province? Thank you. So Mr. Speaker, as I said, I know why the leader of the third party is talking about Sudbury, because Sudbury doesn't have a representative in this legislature right now. And Mr. Speaker, since 2000... Childcare funding in Sudbury since 2003 has increased by 110% from 75 million, Mr. Speaker. So Mr. Speaker, the reality is that we have consistently increased funding to childcare. The other reality is that we have implemented full-day kindergarten, Mr. Speaker, and that means that there is a change in the delivery of childcare around the province, because the four and five-year-olds who may have been in childcare are now in full-day kindergarten, so there are different models developing across the province. But there's more money and there are more spaces, Mr. Speaker. New question? The question goes for the Premier Speaker. Today the Auditor General will be tabling her annual report. When we asked, the Liberals couldn't seem to find the business case for Mars, for the Mars loan. They didn't know whether they were going to lose millions of dollars in the Toronto grants, and they didn't know what the final cost of the bailout was going to be, Speaker. So when the Auditor General came knocking, could the Premier find the business case for Mars, or did the AG also get the cold shoulder, Speaker? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just need to correct my record on the last question. The funding for Sudbury childcare has gone from 7.5 million to 15.8 million, Mr. Speaker. Wow! So Mr. Speaker, in terms of the Auditor General's report I will repeat what I said to the member of the Conservative Party that we look forward to the Auditor General's report. I'm not going to preempt her announcements this afternoon, Mr. Speaker, but she will look at the operation of the government. She will look at the various areas that she has chosen to examine, and she will give us advice. And she will do that, Mr. Speaker, having worked with the ministry, ministries having worked with her to talk about what it is we are doing to address the concerns that she's identified and what we can do going forward to continue to address the concerns that she might identify. The Auditor General is also reporting on childcare. Four children have died here in Ontario since 2013. No parent should ever have to suffer that kind of loss. As a mum, it's hard for me to even imagine, Speaker. And now the Premier is cutting not-for-profit childcare spaces across Ontario, meaning more kids will be in unlicensed care. Does the Premier think that cutting funding and closing down public not-for-profit licensed childcare centres driving kids into unlicensed childcare is actually good public policy for the province of Ontario in 2014? Thank you. Minister of Education. Minister of Education. I think we need to deal with the facts here. The funding for childcare in Ontario has doubled $2 billion since 2003. We have created since 2003 130,000 additional licensed childcare spaces. In the last four years the average creation of new childcare spaces, licensed childcare spaces has averaged 18,000 new spaces per year, Speaker. And in addition to that 265,000 children are in full-day kindergarten. That's all the four and five-year-olds in the province. That is not cutting. That is adding. Thank you. Supplementary. Thank you, Minister General. We'll also be reporting on smart meters. Smart metering hasn't reduced electricity consumption at all and people's bills, Speaker, are still going up. It's caused anxiety for people, especially seniors, shift workers and low-income families. So this is the chance for the Premier to finally admit that the smart metering program was not so smart after all. Is she prepared to do that today? Thank you. Thank you. Minister of Energy. I'm very pleased to answer that question, Mr. Speaker. Studies have shown that people are saving money with smart meters. Not only are they saving money with smart meters, Mr. Speaker, the system is generating benefit. Thank you. Carry on. Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, studies have shown that time-abuse pricing has been successful at reducing consumption by residential customers during peak periods by between 2 percent and 5 percent, Mr. Speaker. In addition to that, it's generating a lot of cost to the system itself, Mr. Speaker. It alerts utilities when lines go down, a service that they never had before. Redirects electricity to restore power outages. It's improving accuracy in the coming order. Thank you. Thank you. New question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In terms of tolerance regarding medical tourism have been raised to your government dating back to at least 2011 by a number of health care organizations, including among others, the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario. This practice in which certain health care organizations attract patients from other countries on a pay-for-treatment basis seriously undermines our publicly funded health care system, yet nothing substantive has been done to end it. In fact, in April 2014, the previous health expressed support for this practice. Minister, on November 21st, you sent a letter asking health care organizations not to quote market to, solicit or treat international patients. This approach clearly hasn't worked before. So minister, when will you introduce an outright ban on medical tourism? Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the question from the opposition. In fact, we have asked our hospitals to end the practice of actively marketing to or soliciting international patients to come to this province to avail themselves of our health care facilities. Of course, we're not talking about those important functions that our hospitals play in terms of bringing humanitarian patients to the province. I think all of us agree programs like the Herbie Fund at Toronto Sick Kids Hospital, for example, those programs need to continue. So we're talking about a specific category of individuals who would choose to pay to gain entry to hospitals in the province. I have to say that it's a small number of hospitals that to date have engaged in that practice. There are very specific principles. I'll get into those principles and the supplementary that have adhered to hospitals engaging in the practice of receiving international patients. But we've ended that practice specifically with regards to marketing, soliciting to individual. Deputy House Leader, come to order. Supplementary. It's clear your government isn't taking these concerns seriously enough. In 2012, the previous Minister of Health warned hospitals they could only treat international patients if no public dollars were used, no Ontario patients displaced, and all the revenue generated was spent on hospital services for Ontarians. Well, clearly that's not happening. These conditions were not adhered to because another warning letter was sent in August 2014. Again, no compliance. Now we have your November 2016 report. No reason to believe based on past practices that there will be compliance with this latest statement from your office. So Minister, will you introduce legislation banning medical tourism here in Ontario? Well, Mr Speaker, perhaps the member opposite hasn't read my most recent letter because then I'm happy to provide her with a copy. It's crystal clear we are. Allowing our hospitals to market and solicit and receive those international patients precisely the ones that she's talking about. We are ending that practice. Now two years ago it's true that a letter was sent by the ministry, followed up this past August, stipulating what at that time were the requirements in place. No tax dollars could go towards this practice. Any revenue needs to come back to service Ontario patients. It's very clear and it certainly couldn't impact the care that Ontarians are receiving in any way, shape or form. We've gone further. We did a review. I initiated a review. In fact, it was my predecessor, the current president of the Treasury Board who initiated the review. We had to get more information to find out precisely what was taking place. We've ended the practice. There's no question that practice has ended. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Government and Consumer Services. Mr Speaker, yesterday, new Democrats came to the table. They said that the government will vote for the NDP that urges the government to move immediately to prevent predatory practices by payday loan companies. The motion calls for banning gift card exchanges at exorbitant rates and reducing the fees charged on payday loans from the current $21 per $100. Will the government be siding with the NDP will voting for the NDP in the future? Thank you. Thanks, Speaker. I appreciate the members oversimplification of the issue. As the member is aware, we have taken a swift action around these organizations and with respect to money mart in particular speaker, we reached out to them and expressed our displeasure with regard to the practice that they've engaged in. They've suspended that practice immediately and we need to review it. As the member also knows, the rate of lending and the aspect around gift cards and the resale of gift cards is not in violation of the current Payday Lending Act 2008 and in fact there is no province in this country that has gift cards as a resale as part of any existing legislation. Committed to the member that we will review the matter and we will look at the resale of gift cards in the province of Ontario. Thank you. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. After Mr. Speaker doing the right thing can be very simple. Bending practices such as redeeming gift cards for cash at 50% of the card's value is only one of the many areas in the Payday Lone Act that need to be changed and can be changed if the government had the will to do so. I would have thought that forcing vulnerable individuals already under stress during the holiday season to pay this extraordinary high rate for an exchange will be something that the government motivated to move forward with some legislation to actually ensure that Ontarians are going to be protected moving forward but apparently this government is not committed to that. In our motion new democrats have proposed modest reasonable Payday Lone Act reforms that would actually protect vulnerable people from this predatory industry. Why won't this government commit to voting for this motion to ensure that we actually support our vulnerable people. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Our government is committed to protecting consumers in the province of Ontario. We have done a consultation with the sector earlier this year before the election and we will be acting going forward in the new year on proposed changes around the legislation. We do have a new bill to introduce in relation to Payday Lending in the province with standards that will continue to raise the bar to protect consumers in this province. We're committed to reviewing the issue around the level of gift cards and the member knows full well that the aspect of gift cards being taken for cash value was not in this instance part of any Payday Lending aspect and if it was they would be in violation of the act. We've asked them to cease. They have done that. We will look at other ways that we can ensure through charities that folks can receive the funding that they need with respect to those that are vulnerable in Ontario. Mr President Mr Speaker the Associate Minister of Finance Minister in the past few weeks both manual life in the conference board of Canada have released studies highlighting the retirement saving challenge of Ontarians. According to the conference board only 6 in 10 Canadians are putting money away for retirement and most don't feel they have saved enough to live comfortably in their golden years. Manual life study reveals that almost half of Canadians expect to be in debt in retirement. Mr Speaker I know some of my residents in my writing have expressed their concerns during my campaign about the retirement saving of their children and the impact that low retirement savings will have on our economy. Minister I understand that yesterday you introduced legislation that will help strain Ontario's retirement income system. Can you please inform the House how the new legislation will help to improve our retirement system? Thank you Associate Minister of Finance. Thank you Speaker and merci to the hard working member from Ottawa Orleans. Speaker this under savings problem in this country is real. It has been a common thread in all my conversations with Ontarians. That is why I was very pleased to stand before the House and introduce the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan Act 2014. If passed this legislation would create a savings tool for the people of this province designed to give people a secure retirement income floor that they can rely on. This act would commit the government to establish the ORPP by January 1st 2017 and would enshrine in law some of the key elements of the ORPP that we discussed in our 2014 budget. This act would help millions of Ontarians save for retirement and help move forward a made in Ontario solution to the retirement under savings problem. Mr Speaker the cost of inaction is too high. We have an economic imperative that we act now and that's what our government is doing with this legislation. Thank you Mr. Prime Minister. Thank you to the Minister for the answer. To see our government stepping up and taking action to address this important concern for so many Ontarians. I know that constituents in my writing will be keen to learn about the steps our government is taking to address the saving challenge. Mr Speaker I began through you to the Associate Minister over the past several weeks I have had constituents express interest in the administrative body that will administer the plan. Minister can you please explain to the House how the funds gathered from the ORPP will be managed. Minister. Thank you Speaker and thank you again to the member for the question. Mr Speaker in our legislation we reiterated our commitment from the budget and fall economic statement that the ORPP will be designed to mirror many elements of the CPP the ORPP would be publicly administered at arms length from government we will put in place a strong governance model for managing investments and administering the plan Ontario is home to some of the most largest and most highly regarded pension funds as stated this week in the New York Times Speaker. We will be leveraging the expertise in this sector and Ontario's financial services sector the former CEO of OMERS Mr Michael Nobrega is providing guidance and support on the implementation of the ORPP in particular he will provide advice on creating an administrative entity and developing administrative and operational capacity. Mr Speaker I look forward to continuing to work with Mr Nobrega and the leading experts on our technical advisory group to ensure we create the best possible plan for the people of Ontario. Thank you. Thank you Mr Speaker. My question is the minister of health and long-term care. Minister family health teams across the province are losing their qualified staff and finding it difficult to find replacements. These teams which provide valuable service in rural Ontario are watching their staff leave to work in hospitals CCACs and long-term care where compensation and benefits are better. What is your plan to ensure family health teams have enough staff to care for our communities? Mr Speaker I'm very proud of the work that all our frontline health care workers do across this province. They are there often and generally when people are in their greatest moment of need and they provide a vital and important service. Now it's important when we look at our health care resource challenge Mr Speaker that we understand that there are from time to time issues of recruitment and retention and as a ministry we're working hard to address those specific sectors within our health care system. A perfect example I think was earlier this year when we made the announcement we've now implemented it for our PSWs or personal support workers where we have increased we will be increasing by $4 over the next three years to make sure that we're helping to attract the right people to that important profession Mr Speaker but also that the ability to recruit and also sustain and maintain them particularly in the home and community environment that that is a viable option and so certainly as we look at all the health care sectors we will continue to take that up. Thank you Mr Speaker while family health teams are provided funding to hire frontline care staff they're unable to fill the positions. There is currently a 20% vacancy rate in nurse practitioner positions within our family health teams. So when these positions are left vacant how are these teams supposed to provide the services people need. So minister again what is your plan to address this growing recruitment and retention and it is a crisis. Well Mr. Speaker our plan certainly isn't in fact it's the opposite of what the opposition's plan was in the 1990s when they had more than 10,000 nurses in this province and in fact since we came into office Mr Speaker more than 24,000 nurses having added to this province to help provide health care to people at the front lines and just for and our ends more than 10,000 RNs I met recently with our nurse practitioners a couple of weeks ago Mr. Speaker they have indicated that they want to work together on the issue of recruitment and retention challenges in certain parts of the province it's we have I would say led the way for Canada in terms of the construct of the nurse practitioner led clinic we now have 25 of them around the province Mr. Speaker and we will continue to work with our nurse practitioners with all nurses to make sure that they are able to find those jobs and stand those jobs successful. Thank you Mr. Speaker and my question is to the minister of finance. Minister yesterday introduced two different pieces of pension legislation the first a fully formed PRPP bill to appease your friends on Bay Street and the second little more than an obvious attempt to distract from the first it is great to see the government getting into the holiday spirit and putting a bow on the PRPP legislation but Ontarians are not that easily fooled. Speaker why does your government continue to make deception your first priority? I'm not particularly enamored with that would you please withdraw? I withdraw Minister of Finance Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you for the question I appreciate the member actually having listened to the announcement yesterday she's absolutely correct we brought forward the first time in Ontario's history an Ontario retirement pension plan and a retirement security system to provide greater integrity greater choice and greater support for people as they retire that of course includes providing a complimentary plan that is also being adopted across the country it would be ill advised and wrong on our part not to offer greater choice to supplement people's retirement security hence providing a low cost full retirement plan that enables all individuals to yet again provide for their security at a much more cost effective way. Thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker the government has a lot to say about choice and voluntary savings options but nearly 50% of working Ontarians will likely be exempted from the ORPP and won't have the option to join we have years to wait for the details of the ORPP and hopefully we will have that opportunity to design the best plan possible as a general rule the greater the size of the pool the greater the benefit to pensioners the more people in the plan the more money in the pool so Mr. Speaker rather than catering to the interests of their friends on Bay Street will the government allow exempted Ontarians the opportunity to voluntarily enroll in the ORPP is the priority of this government the financial security of banks the security of hard working Ontarians Thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker the member opposite is asking about how are we going to support and provide for a Ontario publicly administered pension plan to support the people of Ontario and hopefully Mr. Speaker more people across Canada as other provinces are interested in what we are doing you voted against that very measure and now you're standing here asking us how are we going to provide a public plan to support those very people and yet you voted against it we are offering that program we recognize the benefit of having a pooled system that enables more people to benefit from retirement security and retirement security also includes other plans other plans that are more cost effective and that includes the pool register retirement plan with the PRPP which is what we've advised and which we will be providing in the coming year Mr. Speaker they're complementary they're not plans Thank you Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister of Training Colleges and University Minister many Ontarians are having difficulty getting back to work because they lack skills and training necessary to fill the jobs of today's economy I have discussed this with professors and students in my writing of Kingston and the Islands from both St. Lawrence College and Queens University at the same time employers are constantly looking for new ways to recruit and train qualified employees to perform highly skilled work in Ontario's competitive labour market our government along with employers across our province understands the importance of investing in skills training and recognizes that there is no one size fits all approach to developing a workforce skills and knowledge for the new economy I was able to see the benefits of the critical relationship between our colleges and universities and the workers hand Minister we were pleased to see that after months of leadership from Ontario at the bargaining table you recently announced that the Canada Ontario job grant was open for business Minister Training College University Mr. Speaker I want to thank the member from Kingston and Ireland for that question Mr. Speaker I'm happy to announce that businesses across Ontario cannot apply for Canada Ontario job grants this grant provides an opportunity for employers to invest in training of their workforce with help from the government the Canada Ontario job grant will serve to encourage greater participation of employers in the skills training and also enhances employment and the skills across our province Mr. Speaker thanks to Ontario's hard work we gained important flexibility for funding the Canada Ontario job grant and made sure that our most vulnerable workers were not left out in the cold Mr. Speaker the quality of our skilled workforce is our single greatest asset in this province Mr. Speaker and Ontario's economy is stronger when every Ontarians can contribute to our economy thank you Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you Minister for informing the members on how the Canada Ontario job grant is helping Ontarians get back to work and helping employers train their employees to do highly skilled jobs in Ontario's competitive labour market it's great to hear that our government is committed to taking on a leadership role in skills and training programs that develop a strong and modernized workforce in Ontario I know from my riding of Kingston in the islands that we have some excellent examples of programs that are supporting small businesses and local employment particularly at St. Lawrence College some perfect examples are programs such as the brick and stone masonry program, computer networking and technical support, culinary management or the more technical energy systems engineering technology program Mr. Speaker can the Minister tell us more about the efforts our government has taken to gather feedback from employers across the province and how we are helping to accommodate the specific needs of our small businesses Thank you Thank you Mr. Speaker again I want to thank the member for that question Mr. Speaker with the help of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce we listened to what business across the province of Ontario had to say and we are taking action Mr. Speaker we make it easier for the small businesses across the province to participate in the Canada Ontario job grant and they will have more flexibility on how to fund their portion of the training and we are also asking employers to help us shape two new training initiatives Mr. Speaker one of them is our customized training program which will develop sector specific training and the second one is office skill pilot which will provide technical training for tailored for vulnerable workers across the province of Ontario Mr. Speaker employer driven training will help us continue to build a workforce at the right time for the right place in our province of Ontario Thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister of Health and long term care in response to a question from the Liberal member from Cambridge the minister recently stated in the legislature I'm proud that in fact our government that under our government every single Ontarian with diabetes who wants a family doctor has one would the minister like to retract that statement Thank you Mr. Health long term care Well Mr. Speaker in a province with 13 million people it is a challenge of course to constantly be able to provide every possible level of health care to every single individual at every single moment in time but certainly Mr. Speaker the progress that we've made on our Ontario diabetes strategy is extraordinary in fact it's a model not just in Canada but around the world for the progress that it's made and that objective that we have that every single Ontarian who has diabetes who wants a family doctor has one that objective stands Mr. Speaker and I'm motivated and want to work closely with the member opposite if he has identified an individual in the province where that's not the case Thank you Mr. Speaker All my constituents who have diabetes are spending hours in the emergency room to receive the medical care they need they could have told this minister that he was wrong his comments show he's completely out of touch with the reality of the doctor shortage in Perth Wellington for three years my office has received calls from those who desperately want and need a doctor two weeks ago we assisted a constituent with his diabetes assessment form from the MTO for help with his medical paperwork what does the minister have to say to him and others waiting for about a year on this government's health care connect list Thank you Mr. Speaker we've come a long way in terms of providing a family doctor to those Ontarians who do want and need one Mr. Speaker I think the figure is 94% maybe within one percentage of that Mr. Speaker but we've made an even more ambitious target in our platform that we're going to carry through with in the next several years and that goal is that every Ontarian that wants a family doctor in this province will be entitled to one and will receive one whether that's a family doctor or a nurse practitioner but certainly that primary care provider that individual wants and deserves Mr. Speaker so we have come a long way in terms of the provision of services and in fact health care connect is an important part of that because we don't have a family doctor or a nurse practitioner primary care provider can actually enroll in health care connect to works with them diligently to source and connect them with that individual that will provide them with health care Thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of labour yesterday injured workers and their advocates gathered on the steps of the WSIB they were there to send a message to this government that it's not all right safety rebates to companies that have been convicted of health and safety violations that have resulted in workplace deaths they were there to tell this government that it's not all right to sneak in pre-existing conditions as a reason to deny sick and injured workers their rightful benefits why is this government allowing injured workers to be harmed by these reckless policy changes and why does it send fat checks to companies that have been complicit in workplace deaths Thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you Speaker and thank you to the to the member for that question I was able to attend the rally yesterday I had a good conversation with many of the injured workers that had shown up to express their concerns and certainly these are concerns that have been expressed over the years as each government each successive government seeks to improve the system and often we talk about the premium rates we talk about experience rating and I think what we need to do is remember that this system was put in place to treat injured workers and Speaker that's what we've been doing at the Ministry of Labor and the WSIB is doing a review on its benefits policy it's doing a review on its pre-existing conditions Speaker it's consulting with the injured workers community it's consulting with labor it's consulting with business I'm optimistic Speaker at the end of this process we're going to have an improved process in place for injured workers in this province Thank you I appreciate the Minister's acknowledgement and reference to the historical significance of why we have the WSIB in Ontario because under the Justice William Meredith principles agreed and reached in 1913 workers gave up their rights to sue their employers with the expectation of receiving just and fair compensation if they were injured on the job a just and fair treatment is what injured workers expect and it's what this government should ensure is provided but it's not what's happening at the WSIB these days every one of the members in this chamber knows that and should acknowledge that profoundly unfair and anti-worker policies are being brought in secretly without any oversight from this legislature when will this government ensure that injured and sick workers are treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve Thank you Speaker and thank you to the member for the supplementary and I think we all agree in this House in this province deserve to be treated with respect deserve to be treated with dignity I don't think that's in question Speaker often from time to time the WSIB takes a look at its own practices and policies it takes comments from individuals that have availed themselves of the system it talks to people from the labor community it talks to people from the employer community and it seeks to put in place a system that is fair to all employees in this province as a result of the input that has come in from labor groups from injured workers groups changes have been made to the pre-existing policies changes have been made to the benefit policies I'm hopeful speaker as we move ahead with the input from the three parties and from the opposition parties that we see further changes to the experience program as well Thank you Speaker Mr. President my question is for the Minister of Social Services last week he celebrated the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities and tomorrow will be the United Nations Human Rights Day these important days as you'll know are an opportunity for all of us to acknowledge the challenges and barriers including of course poverty and discrimination that people with disabilities face every day this is especially important in my own riding of Etobicoke North your ministry and this government have taken a strong position on recognizing individuals with disabilities in particular their right to inclusion support and having the same opportunities as all Ontarians this includes introducing the landmark piece of legislation the accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act almost 10 years ago Minister I ask you doctor to doctor what has the government done recently to help people who are living with disabilities reach their full potential Thank you Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member from Etobicoke North for his question and will continue to do in this area is crucial to upholding the human rights and advancing the quality of life of all Ontarians as Minister of Community and Social Services I look forward to realizing our government's commitments to ensuring Ontarians with disabilities are better supported over the past two years our government has made significant improvements to the Ontario Disability Support Program now everyone who works can earn up to $200 without having their assistance benefits reduced at all and for earnings above $200 benefits are reduced only by 50 cents on every dollar earned beginning in April 2015 a new streamlined employment benefit will be introduced to support ODSP recipients in finding competitive employment with the new benefit recipients with disabilities will be able to access up to $1800 to help realize supplementary Thank you Minister we appreciate your stewardship of these files and of course the recent changes will make a tangible difference for people finding and maintaining employment a number of agencies in my own riding in Etobicoke North are doing great work to support individuals in their daily lives and to seek better integration in the communities and the economy it's still a reality that individuals living with disabilities face enhanced challenges in Ontario for example one in seven people have sub type of disability this means about 62,000 adults and 28,000 children the ability for an individual to pursue competitive employment can be one of the most fulfilling life experiences especially for someone who may have thought they never could Speaker how has this government supporting individuals with developmental disabilities helping to pursue their goals in employment Thank you Minister Thank you Mr Speaker My mandate is to drive forward the transformation of supports for those living with disabilities this means ensuring these individuals have access to the right assistance so they can pursue the same opportunities in our communities and economy Recently we launched a developmental services employment and modernization fund with the goal of making integrated employment in the community and a preferred outcome for people with a developmental disability this investment of up to $15 million over the next three years will promote inclusive work environments and opportunities for people with developmental disabilities to find competitive employment develop successful job skills and contribute to the growth of the province this new fund has already received 260 submissions from agencies in its first allotment the successful applications will be announced in early 2015 if our province is to realize its full potential then we must be sure that all Ontarians can reach their own individual potential Thank you Mr Speaker My question is for the Minister of Education Minister your flawed built 10 was time allocated through this house at record speed without party any consultation and almost no debate During the committee hearings your PA the member from Glengore Prescott informed deputants that they would be part of a minister's round table that would provide input into drafting regulations Minister can you inform the house today when the round table discussions will take place and if that input will include members of the coalition of independent child care providers and if you are not including the coalition are you telling the people in the province that they have to go to a court of law to get fair representation Thank you Mr Speaker Yes what will happen is we've got extensive regulations that need to be done with built 10 one of the amendments that people might be interested that we did include with built 10 at the hearings was to actually put it in writing to make our intent clear that the new regulations for the unlicensed home child care sector will not take place take effect until January of 2016 which means that there's a transition period of a year and we put that right in the law so it will be absolutely clear to everyone so what I'm saying here is there are a lot of regulations to be to be developed and we will do what we always do we will post each and every regulation for 45 days Thank you supplementary Minister I never heard an answer on that are you not ashamed of how the house leader jammed this built 10 through for you but I want to give him credit he made sure you secretly made it to Ottawa and he made sure we had 93 amendments motions passed in less than 40 minutes without debate and I want to thank you both because we now have some excellent new candidates who want to put their names forward for our party because of the way that you treated them the way you treated the ICPs on built 10 so I ask again I just like a clear answer when can we expect your regulation round tables and will independent child care providers be included or not included I just want an answer you never included the answer you met you done each of your amendments you never answered my question Actually I did answer your question when we post something for 45 days that means that there is a 45 day period during which any member of the public who wishes to comment on the regulation is able to do so which is actually what my parliamentary assistant committed to is that there would be consultations well when you post a regulation trust me we know this in the child care area we get hundreds of responses and we collect the responses and we analyze and then we adjust the regulation that's what the consultation will do but it is interesting to know what the real interest in built 10 was they wanted to recruit more candidates from Windsor to come see thank you speaker my question this morning is to the premier good morning premier south western Ontario is home to some of the most beautiful countryside in Ontario it includes prime farm land the member from Simcoe north will come to order and the member from Glen Gary brussel will come to order the I wouldn't take it any further please finish your question thank you speakers to the premier I'm talking about the farm land in southwestern Ontario that feeds Ontario watersheds that flow into three great lakes it also includes the northwestern tip of the Marcellus shale the same rock formation that hosts fracking operations in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and have caused so much environmental devastation recently the governments of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick have taken action to address this new environmental threat will the government follow their lead and impose a moratorium on fracking thank you premier minister of natural resources and forestry minister of natural resources and forestry speaker thank you very much and I want to thank the member for the question it's interesting I was wondering if perhaps at some point we'd hear a question in the house and I'd ask my staff some time ago to provide me with as much information as possible indeed if a question had arisen on this particular issue it's a sensitive issue I know that the minister of the environment and climate change also takes specific into in this issue what I can tell you is that should there be a need to move forward with this process in Ontario that there is legislation in effect I believe it's called the oil and gas act that would be required to be changed before fracking could be allowed on the province of Ontario what I can tell you right now speaker is that there are no applications as I understand it because I've asked my staff to get back to me on this currently before the my ministry or any other ministry that I'm currently nothing before us and in fact I'm told if in fact there was it would require legislative change before it could move forward here thank you speaking the American company loan pine is suing the Quebec government under the North American free trade agreement for loss of future business due to its moratorium on fracking loan pine believes it has the right to frack under the St. Lawrence river if Ontario doesn't take action now other companies will lay claim to our countryside and then claim a permanent right to frack before we know what the environmental risks are at least two companies are considering fracking in southwestern Ontario will the government impose a moratorium on fracking now before it's too late well speaker as I mentioned in the original question as I understand it right now and I will check further but I've asked this question and I've been told that should anybody look to be trying to move forward with fracking in the province of Ontario in fact legislative change would be required so that I guess if it's accurate the moratorium at this point is unnecessary having given the fact that the members raised the question I will endeavour again to look into this to be sure what I'm conveying to you is in fact accurate but as it stands today the information that's been provided to me when I asked for it indicates very clearly that right now you cannot go forward and frack in Ontario unless there's legislative change in the province of Ontario we have a deferred vote on the motion for third reading of bill 8 an act to promote public sector accountability and transparency by enacting a broader public sector executive compensation act 2014 and the men various acts calling the members this will be a 5 minute bell put all members please take their seats all members please take your seats sergeant at arms is coming for you on December of the 8th Miss Matthews moved third reading of bill 8 all those in favour please rise one at a time be recognized by the clerk Miss Matthews Mr. Bradley Mr. Shirelli Mr. Sousa Mr. Hoskins Mr. Dugas Mr. McCharles Mr. Quinter Mr. Cull Mr. Tukar Mr. Baradnetti Mr. Dillon Mr. Dillon Mr. Quadri Mr. Bravel Mr. Delaney Mr. Balthasen Mr. Dickson Mr. Crack Mr. Wong Mr. Hunter Mr. Sergio Mr. Morrow Mr. Dalduca Mr. Frasier Mr. Anderson Mr. Baker Mr. Bala Mr. Don Mr. McMan Mr. Milchin Mr. Pots Mr. Rinaldi Mr. Yurek Mr. Harnam Mr. Harnam Mr. Macal Mr. Wilson Mr. Yacobusky Mr. Clark Mr. Dunlop Mr. McDonough Mr. Jones Mr. Bailey Mr. Hillier Mr. Walker Mr. Smith Mr. Nichols Mr. Martell Mr. McDonough Mr. McClaren Mr. Pettipies Mr. Fife Mr. Bisson Mr. Horvath Mr. Vantel Mr. Jellina Mr. Singh Mr. Mantho Mr. Hadfield Mr. Gates Mr. Gretzky Mr. French Mr. French Mr. French Mr. French Mr. French Mr. French Mr. French Mr. French You