 It is now time for question period the minister from Simcoe great. Thank you Mr. Speaker I seek consent to stand down the PC lead questions until the fifth PC rotation that we will stand down the rotation I don't do not believe it's unanimous consent it's basically just information for us so we do need consent sorry all right I've been schooled again we do need consent till we agree agreed I'm sorry well the reality it was as I heard some heckling and I wasn't sure if it was a yes do we have agreement agree the leader of the third party on some questions thank you speaker my question set for the premier yesterday Dave nickel the bureaucrat responsible for government record-keeping said that he knew the government's own security branch was investigating the possibility that liberal staff had been illegally wiping computers when did the premier learn that her own government was investigating deliver a deleted hard drive speaker so mr. Speaker as I have said many times in this in this house I learned the allegations against the former premier's chief of staff on March 27th when those became public there is there is an investigation on going mr. Speaker I do not have the details of that investigation mr. Speaker I will not I will not interfere with that investigation mr. Speaker and I really believe that we need to let that investigation roll out mr. Speaker thank you supplementary well speaker the premier has now repeated again that she was as shocked as anyone when the allegation of breach of trust broke out on March 27th the premier knew however that there were multiple investigations happening and knew they were affecting her offices the premier said she was a surprise as anyone but what exactly did the premier think the police were looking for again mr. Speaker I did I learned of the allegations on March 27th that is absolutely true mr. Speaker like everyone else the the investigation is ongoing I am I am not I'm not going to interfere with that investigation mr. Speaker and nor nor do I have the details of that investigation and that's as it should be mr. Speaker so what I what I did when I came into this office as I have said to the member opposite as I opened up the process I made it clear that there were questions that had been asked that needed answers that there were documents that needed to be provided to committee the scope of the committee was expanded we have provided those hundreds of thousands of pages of documents mr. Speaker and I have appeared before the committee twice and there have been dozen people of the appeared before that committee and have answered the questions that the committee has thank you supplementary well speaker I'm asking specifically about when the premier knew that there were investigations going on in her offices of 22 staff who had their computers wiped nine of those people are still liberal staffers three of them are in the premier's office one works for her in agriculture and food two of them have been promoted to chief of staff roles the government has been seized with this scandal for over a year speaker but the premier seems to be saying she was as surprised as anyone when the news broke on the 27th of March is the premier saying that none of her staff ever told her about this you know it was common knowledge that there was an investigation into questions about record keeping we had we had conversations with the information privacy commissioner the rules were changed as a result of conversations with the information privacy commissioner so mr. Speaker we knew that the privacy commissioner was looking into this last spring the the OPP investigation was known about last June that was common knowledge the allegations the recent allegations I first knew about on March 27th because I am not interfering in the investigation mr. Speaker it is ongoing it was known that it was in place and it will continue to roll out and I will continue not to interfere in that investigation mr. Speaker thank you new question the leader of the third party my next question is also for the premier speaker yesterday media reports indicated that the OPP are still hoping to talk to a number of individuals including Dalton McGinty the man whose legacy the premier sworn to uphold does the premier think that Dalton McGinty should agree to be interviewed by the OPP anti-rackets group thank you very much mr. Speaker and again the investigation is ongoing the the investigation will will include people as the individuals leading it choose mr. Speaker I have no control over that and as the leader of the third party knows mr. Speaker the former premier Dalton McGinty has appeared twice before the committee I have appeared twice before the committee mr. Speaker I have done everything in my power to make sure that as questions have been asked that they have been answered and I will continue to do that mr. Speaker well speaker I was asking about the OPP investigation you know it's not just Dalton McGinty the report indicates that the OPP is hoping to talk to several key liberals including the former chief of staff and his deputies at committee the OPP indicated that some of those folks have declined to do so does the premier think they should talk to police speaker thank you thank you very much mr. Speaker well I you know I think that the leader of the third party knows full well that I do not have control over every person who might be asked to come before committee I know mr. Speaker that there have been there have been people who have been asked to come before the committee who were former PC candidates for example and they have not shown up mr. Speaker so I think individuals make their decisions mr. Speaker my decision my decision was to appear before the committee twice mr. Speaker we have done everything in our power to cooperate with with the people who are asking questions and make sure that they get those answers we have done that repeatedly we will continue to do that mr. Speaker final supplementary I'm talking about the OPP anti-racket squad request to speak to people the premier says this is an open and accountable government that respects the value of taxpayers dollars but all people see speaker our liberals avoiding accountability and a premier scrambling to distance herself from the legacy of Dalton McGinty can the premier answer a very simple question speaker order as leader of the liberal party will she urge all fellow liberals to cooperate fully with the OPP investigation this is an investigation over which I have no control I am not interfering with the investigation mr. Speaker it is up to the OPP who are directing the investigation to continue to do that I will continue mr. Speaker to not interfere in that mr. Speaker and I will continue as we are asked questions as the committee does its business we will continue to cooperate in every way mr. Speaker no question member from Lippison thank you and good morning speaker my question is for the premier when the people of Ontario heard about these wiped computers in your office they were furious they knew it all along they felt it in their bones or now the OPP are hot on the trail if somebody dropped this in my lap without warning I'd be apoplectic I'd come swinging your reaction you're concerned if you really didn't know anything why were why weren't you furious with these people and demand answers from them the only people you seem to be mad at are the pcs the very people who are exposing your scandal so instead of fighting to get to the truth you're fighting to keep the truth from coming out that's not what people expect from a premier they want someone who will fight for them not someone who's fighting against them premier why are you fighting against the truth coming out that's right you see this please you see this premier mr. Speaker I know that the the government house leader is going to want to comment on the the latest details around the committee but I just I just want to say this I really believe that it is my responsibility as the premier and the leader of this party mr. Speaker it's my responsibility as the leader of this government to make sure that over the top rhetoric is not part of my modus operandi mr. Speaker that what I what I have a responsibility to do is to make sure that as questions are asked that we answer them if there's a process that needs to be changed mr. Speaker that we change that process if there are rules that need to be changed then we change those rules and that's exactly what we've been doing mr. Speaker my responsibility is to take action to make sure that as we go forward mistakes that were made are not made again mr. Speaker and that we ensure that we have all of the information that is asked for made available that's my responsibility premier many in our caucus have spent a lot of time getting to the bottom of your gas plant scandal we've all seen the systematic attempt to keep us from getting the truth out you say you brought in the auditor general but that's only after the liberals blocked us from doing it you say you weren't involved in the oakville scandal yet we found your signature on the documents that kickstarted this whole scheme you say you weren't involved in mississauga but you co-chaired the campaign when it was cancelled premier those steady hands of yours have left a lot of fingerprints on this on the gas plant scandal does the committee have to call you in a third time to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth you see the case premier i see them someone else i listened i listened very very carefully to the member from nipissing's question and he seemed to leave out the fact that his party made the exact same promise in the last election he forgot to mention that his leader posted a video on youtube saying if he was elected premier the gas plant would be done done done mr speaker he forgot to mention the fact that when we asked progressive conservative candidates to come forward to the committee to talk about well the policy analysis they had done the costing they had done to ask the same questions they're asking mr speaker they miraculously couldn't appear mr speaker despite the fact one even said she would her she surprisingly at the last minute said oh no i can't mr speaker so mr speaker you know please mr speaker it's a little rich for them to be standing up to talk about getting to the bottom but the fact of the matter is that there are all these inconvenient facts that they leave out thank you new question member from tenon's james vape my questions to the premier premier long before your date of march 27th when you say you first found out about this government services had a forensic investigation of the deleted emails and the deleted art drives in the premier's office and on september 5th they had identified the 24 hard drives in the premier's office had been deleted did the premier ever discuss with your minister of government services that investigation premier minister of government services minister of government services mr speaker uh again i would direct the honorable member i would direct all honorable members to the document that was made public by the court proceedings or through the court proceedings about two weeks ago mr speaker and that uh clearly references the reporter investigation that he's talking about as part of the opp investigation i can inform the honorable member as minister of government services i had a discussion with my deputy early on where i indicated to him that any interaction between my ministry and the opp that i did not wish to know anything about it to be briefed on it to be in any way connected mr speaker because i wanted to make sure mr speaker that it was fully independent and i am pleased to say mr speaker that the deputy and members of my ministry respected that and i was given no information about any work being undertaken by the ministry of government services and again mr speaker let's let the opp continue their work supplementary that is an unbelievable answer to the question nine of the 22 staff premier whose computers were wiped are still liberal staffers three of them still work in your office and one works daily with the government house theater who used to work at the premier's office so my question to you to the government services minister did you raise yes or no this issue before the before the date that the premier said directly with her government mr speaker you know again mr speaker i'm not sure where the new democrats have been uh for the last year or so and i don't have a an article here from June 7th 2013 which outlines the news that the opp is conducting an investigation into this matter that was a matter of a public record mr speaker now going on close to a year as i just indicated mr speaker i felt the prudent course as minister was that i in no way be involved or have knowledge of the opp investigation because mr speaker unlike members of the opposition i respect the independence of the ndp and mr speaker i'm also aware as the opp opp i correct my record mr speaker as the opp i also respect the independence of the ndp mr speaker but as the opp indicated interference by politicians mr speaker could in fact jeopardize the investigation new question member from scarborough agent court thank you speaker my questions for the minister of education minister as you know today is an international day of pink the day of pink is an anti-bullying initiatives which began in Nova Scotia after grade nine students who was bullied in the school for wearing pink two students who witnessed the incident brought pink shirts to fight against bullying and stand with the students now young people across canada include schools in my riding of scarborough agent court are wearing pink today to draw their attention to the harmful effects of bullying this demonstrates the importance of speaking up against the form of discrimination and homophobia it also demonstrates that together we can stop bullying and end discrimination particular in our schools speaker through you to the minister can she please inform the house why it's so important that our schools are welcoming and safe places for Ontario students thank you minister of education yes thank you very much thank you to the member for scarborough agent court for a question because it is so important that we all take a stand and say we will not accept bullying in our schools and you know as the chair of the safe schools action team and a minister of education i visited schools all across the province that are taking a stand across against bullying and i think of one school i visited in Guelph actually and visited with with the students in the gay straight alliance the gsa at this school and they told me about one of the things that they thought had had the greatest impact that they had done was that they had arranged to meet with the staff in the staff cafeteria and actually had a very open conversation with the staff about things the staff could do differently in the school to create a better atmosphere and serve lesbian students another student told me that she wasn't gay she wasn't lesbian but that the gsa thank you for her and her bullying thank you thank you supplementary the speaker initiatives like the international day of pink shows that our young people want to stand up to bullying but we know that bullying doesn't just happen in our classroom mr speaker it occurs on internet on website like facebook and twitter we also know there have been tragic incidents of young people taking their lives because of bullying they have received in the classroom and online speaker through you to the minister can she inform the house what our government is doing to combat bullying outside the classroom good question minister and the members absolutely correct bullying actually often does aside occur outside the school which is why for the first time in Ontario we have recognized cyber bullying in legislation and included cyber bullying as part of the definition of bullying we've also given principles the authority to take action when there is negative when there is bullying that takes place online that has a negative impact on the school and i think of one school that i visited here in Toronto that actually took the action uh beyond just looking at the students cyber bullying they actually set up an email line where kids could report bullying online and the vice principal monitored that and the school was able to set up workshops for the kids about homophobia or about racism or about ethnic discrimination and deal with all sorts of facets as a whole school thank you and reduce bullying thank you new question member for one for mr speaker my question is for the premier since you were appointed by the liberal party a year ago you've talked a lot about running an open government and wanting to engage in a lot of conversations this makes your recent behavior hard to explain a few weeks ago your house leader accused my colleague the member from nipissing of divulging confidential documents to the public wasn't true that was quickly exposed as nothing but a ploy to cover up your own incompetence and distract attention from your scandals premier you're at it again your attempts at intimidation against our leader tim hoodack and the member from the peon palpin are unwarranted and undemocratic it is our job is the official opposition to question and hold your scandal plague government to account here here will you drop the charade today and get on with the task of providing or tearing some hope if you won't we'll be glad to do it here here please thank you i uh before i go to the premier i'm going to offer advice to all members that we should not be tiptoeing around unparliamentary language uh to the best of our ability that if it gets there i'll let you know premier leader he wasn't tiptoeing you know mr speaker right now sir mr speaker we all recognize the fact that this is a time for debate this is a time for discussion mr speaker but at the same time all of us inside the house and outside the house mr speaker have to stick to the facts i i've shared quotes before mr speaker i have a new one from the ottawa citizen i believe it's today april ninth quote the tories seem to have no real theory of what happened the idea may be to fling as much muck as possible and hope ontarians blame kathleen win for something the fact is mr speaker we need to be dealing with facts and i am pleased mr speaker i am proud that the premier has consulted her lawyers and this as i noted a number of times mr speaker the member from nipin carl is familiar with this situation it was not that long ago mr speaker and she is a result of a lawsuit had to retract something that she had written mr speaker and that's all we asked mr speaker deal with the facts and apologize and withdraw those things that are not coup supplementary to the premier premier through the information to obtain and the justice committee we've learned a lot about how your party made the decision to cancel the gas plants and the efforts made by liberal operatives to systematically destroy the evidence we have reason to believe that the wrongdoing occurred at the highest level of your mr kitty win government there's much to be uncovered and despite your efforts we're going to keep asking the questions that you don't want answers to premier is it not true that the reason you initiated this frivolous action is because you know the opp's investigation could still take some time and you're afraid of other embarrassing revelations coming out prior to a potential spring election i'll ask you again will you drop this today and let us get on with the jobs we've all been sent here to do mr speaker again we're asking people to deal with the facts and you know i know i know everyone in the house likes when i do this let's let's tell you the reviews are in let's share some of them toronto star april first the leader of the opposition went far beyond what the facts show toronto star again april first the leader of the opposition is inventing fanciful scenarios about the first days of wins premiership ottawa citizen april first the pc's asked repeatedly whether wins computer was among those wiped which makes little sense the police are crystal clear that they're interested in computers in McGinty's office where win did not work global male editorial like him first ontario progressive conservative leader is on thin legal ice global male editorial goes on to say the leader of the opposition's claim that premier win was personally behind any wiping of government computers when there's no evidence to support such an allegation goes too far mr speaker let's deal with the facts and they're not they're going to hear from the premier's wall thank you no question from toronto danford thank you speaker my question to the minister of energy the ceo bruce power is front and center in today's newspapers calling on the government to sell off more of our electricity system to private operators specifically him is that the government's plan serve energy mr speaker many of us here in this chamber no duncan hotdog quite well and he has a very distinctive way of communicating mr speaker however he also is an entrepreneur mr speaker and he's going to do whatever he can to generate benefits to his shareholders mr speaker the government is not currently looking at disposing of any of our energy companies mr speaker our updated long-term energy plan sets out the refurbishment schedule mr speaker for bruce's units and for opg's units and mr speaker there's an unbelievable level of cooperation now between opg and bruce power on how they can generate efficiencies and moving forward with that significant project mr speaker thank you speaker families who are stuck paying the highest hydro bills in canada get a little anxious when they hear liberal and private power deal in the same sentence it's been clear for some time that the folks at bruce power and trans canada trans canada who did very well out of the gas plant scandal by the way are hoping to create a private monopoly and nuclear power will the minister take that idea off the table mr speaker we're going to continue to work to generate efficiencies in the electricity system whether we're partnering with the private sector or other public entities mr speaker but he raises a question of electricity prices as i've said other days in this legislature mr speaker when you look at the comparative numbers from a third party independent cobec hydro the price in ottawa is 12.39 cents per kilowatt hour toronto 12.48 cents edmonton 13.9 cents calgary 14.8 cents halifax 15.45 cents and if you want to look at the u.s comparison which the other party looks at frequently detroit is 15.5 for barson 16.5 zero in new york 21.75 we are competitive and we're not going to listen to your bs thank you no question of minister my question is to the minister of northern development and minds as our government excuse me there's no no no point of ours just stop the number from glen gary prescott russell newt thank you very much speaker thank you again and well good morning my question is to the minister of northern development and minds as our government transforms ontario's transportation network it is crucial that we ensure that we bring new economic opportunities to each and every part of this province this is important to me as i represent a rural community glen gary prescott and russell speaker on friday the minister made an announcement in north bay on the future of the on tc and yesterday speaker the member from temiscus and cochran asked the minister to clarify our plan forward on the on tc however speaker i believe the member appeared to need some clarification on some of the major facts regarding the on tc speaker through you to the minister how is our government delivering transit solutions and providing certainty for communities in northeastern ontario sir northern development and minds speaker i want to thank the member for glen gary prescott russell for the question and an opportunity to clarify some important facts that were maybe sent out incorrectly yesterday i do think it's fair to say that all members recognize that there have been tremendous changes in the telecommunications industry and from our perspective i think it probably will be shared by many that it doesn't make a great deal of sense for a government to to continue to run a telecommunications company that's in competition direct competition with the private sector so indeed we have reached a purchase agreement with bell alliance to purchase on terra and then to inform the member opposite an important point i mean on terra has been losing money for over the past decade in terms of their cost exceeding the revenues and this particular purchase agreement with bell alliance will give the province value within three years so bell is better position mr speaker to attract industry partners in destined capital we're going to continue to answer services are provided to uh communities in iraqa falls tomography want marten river till the lake moose city and mix factory and all thank you thank you again speaker and thank you minister for that uh clarification it's obvious that the minister is taking the needed action to find a sustainable solution for the on tc while providing certainty for northeastern ontario residents speaker the minister mentioned funding to the ontc on core transportation services for northeastern ontario and we all know that providing investments on transportation services and infrastructure assets in economic growth and benefits many sectors speaker can the minister tell us of the new strategic investments that are being made to improve the ontc's transportation service and infrastructure and the economic benefits that we can expect minister well thank you so much speaker and there's no question about it there was some very necessary improvements that continue transformation of the ontc a sustainable and a bright future is very very much uh impossible for the ontc and i do think the decisions that were made and the recommendations that came from the ministerial advisory committee in particular uh determined that focusing on core transportation services was absolutely crucial we will continue to operate motor coach uh the bus service polar bear express freight rail and refurbishment services they will be staying in public hands 23.2 million dollar investment added on to that mr speaker over three years to improve service and the accessibility of motor coach services we're purchasing 11 new buses and to refurbish passenger coaches for the polar bear express we're making real improvements and providing a bright future and by reaching this decision speaker we are also providing much uncertainty to the future of the ontc's transforming the ontc as part of our plan to ensure a prosperous regional economy thanks to more people and more investors i want to bring some clarity to an issue uh the member from uh trial danforth stood on a point of order we do not uh traditionally and conventionally entertain points of order uh during question period but we will entertain them after there was a purpose and a reason for his point of order and uh it goes back to what i have been exercising and that is to try to listen carefully to what people say in the house and regrettably uh i would last the member from lampin kent middle sex not to intervene and i uh do not always hear things that are said in the house because of the heckling and because of the volume of noise and if any member wishes to stand in withdraw or correct the record i would ask all honorable members to do so if anyone said anything that they should not have sir vanerjee i would draw the comment that i made thank you new question this is uh this is for clarity's sake the lead question that's right the member from newark at aurora thank you speaker my question is to the minister of health speaker the criminal investigations that are reaching into the offices of the premier and ministers in this uh government will ultimately expose the pervasive corruption of this government while the focus to date has been on the premier's office and on ministers and on political staff it appears now that civil servants have been co-opted into highly unethical conduct as well and that's precisely what's taking place in the ministry of health can the minister tell us why assistant deputy minister patricia lee and new head of the air ambulance oversight richard jackson would direct ministry staff to alter a letter to say that the ministry of health did not have a copy of the forensic investigation team's audit report on orange when they both knew that there were copies in the ministry at that time thank you as i did listen carefully i'm going to ask the member to withdraw withdraw minister of health long-term character well speaker what i can say to uh the member opposite is that uh orange has been under a lot of scrutiny and as the member knows the committee has been meeting for a long time we have legislation before the house speaker bill 11 that would complete the work that needs to be done to bring the appropriate oversight to uh to orange in terms of these specific question that the member has asked i i will undertake to look into into that allegation speaker uh it is certainly not uh behavior that i am aware of nor what i condone thank you supplementary well speaker apparently some emails survived this government's cleansing oh here is an email trail that was gleaned from a dump of emails to the public accounts committee just last week in the first email charles mian of the ministry of health wrote the following the only edit minister of the environment second added after the discussions with patricia lee this is an email sent to the solicitor at the attorney general responsible for the ministry of health the edit he says is intended to clarify that the ministry of health does not have a copy of the report and that no staff in the ministry have read or accessed the report here was the response from paul kaufman in the ministry of the attorney general question said and i quote i don't know how we can say this my understanding is that the ministry does have possession so the statement is not true whoa can the minister tell us why thank you when i say thank you that's the end of your time for question and when i stand up you sit down so stop please minister of health long-term care well speaker appears to me that the emails make it clear that they corrected uh when they found an error speaker as i said i will look into this issue what i can tell you is that progress at orange is significant under the new leadership of ian delaney and uh and the the ceo dr andrew mccallum we have seen a remarkable improvement in the quality of care and i think the opposite would agree that under the new leadership and the volunteer born at orange we have seen significant improvements speaker orange is into a new chapter the right changes are being made and have been made and i look forward to discussing that more thank you speaker thank you a new question the member from new market world i'm talking about the ministry of health i'm talking about the assistant deputy minister who has oversight responsibility of uh of orange she is the one who directed staff in her own ministry to falsify a statement regarding a matter taking place in the ministry of health that is what happened i'd like to know this because 11 months after that record was changed at the direction of the assistant deputy minister the minister herself testified that there were no copies of that record because they had forwarded directly to the OPP i want to know from this minister what can we rely on to be the truth that we've heard from her or any of her civil servants on this file i correct my record it was the final supplementary minister well thank you speaker and uh i think those of us who are paying attention to what the member from new market aurora has uh has done in the past we would we would all have confidence in knowing that he might not have the whole story because he has part of the story what i can tell you is that paul kaufman is our ministry lawyer speaker he uh he he noticed that an error had been made and corrected that error so thank you speaker the new question from new market world you know i'm going to direct this to the premier i'd like to know from the premier if she sees a contradiction here because we certainly do on the one hand the premier professes a new era of open and accountable government and yet she's just observed her own minister of health sidestepping a very direct question about the conduct of her assistant deputy minister she now stands up in her place and tells me that i have the facts wrong i have emails that say very clearly what happened and even after mr kaufman alerted the fact that this is not true guess what her own civil service under mr richard jackson came back and said well let's word it this way mr kaufman came back and said no it's still not true and i'm asking the premier this question who can we believe in your government you have civil servants now that are not telling the truth your minister stands up for them where is your transparency where is your accountability and what is your definition of truth minister of health and long-term care as i said in the original question i will certainly look into the allegations raised for your market aurora i can also say that he has raised many questions in this house has made other allegations in this house and every time i follow up on them i have to take you almost without exception he gets his facts wrong so i will happily look into this allegation as well thank you supplementary that's very interesting speaker because the first time i raised concerns about orange the minister deflected it and guess what there's now a criminal investigation into that organization i'd like to back to the premier on the one hand speaker the premier is asking us to support anti-slap legislation in this place and yet the premier is carrying on in the tradition of dalton maginti to sue the very people who are bringing forward facts that should be examined by this legislation can the minister tell me this how does she square bringing anti-slap legislation before this legislation and herself lay lawsuits against the member the leader of the opposition the member from nepean carlton to in fact ensure that the real issues are not dealt with how does she square that the member from durham come to order the member from lampton kent middle sex actually maybe even third time minister of health well thank you speaker i i believe that was supposed to have been a supplementary i'm not sure that it had anything to do with the first question so what i can repeat speaker is i will look into these allegations as i have always looked into the allegations raised in this house by the member from new market or and by others and i will happily report back on what i find speaker thank you final supplementary the fact of the matter is my question was not to the minister of health it was a very direct question to the premier about how she can square how she can square sitting there listening to her minister of health avoid the truth when in fact she's committed to transparency i'm going to ask the premier one i uh i have been listening very carefully please please withdraw and and let's not weave in and out of this just withdraw and then ask your question withdraw and i'll ask the premier a very straightforward question no i asked her to define how she considers truth what is her definition of truth i asked her that question she she refused to answer that well the people in this province are very confused about that as well and what she has chosen to do is to refer the matter to the courts and i'm going to suggest question that i believe in the end it will be a court that makes a decision about this government it will be the court of public opinion minister of health to the premier speaker thank you very much mr speaker thank you very much and i you know it's uh i'm happy to uh i'm happy to answer the uh the question of the member opposite uh i had referred the first question because it was a health question and then the question changed so let me just say this mr speaker what i believe is in the best interest of the politics of this province and the uh the political discourse and serving the people of the province is that we deal with facts mr speaker the only challenge the allegations and the accusations of the leader of the opposition is that they are not based in fact mr speaker otherwise i would be happy to continue to discuss the issues around the placement of energy infrastructure the rules we have changed around the retention of documents mr speaker but i will not i will not debate i will not debate allegations that are completely false mr speaker my question to the premier excuse me stop the clock please i uh how this place works is to come to order when the speaker asks and i'm going to ask the member from renfrew nipissing prime book to come to order new question the member and the the minister responsible for seniors can hide his face all he wants i'm not impressed think about this remember from the topicals make sure thank you mr speaker my question is for the premier premier just about every day there's questions on the gas plan yep and just about every day you deflect some of the questions off to your house leader and just about every day the house leader tries to implicate the rest of the house in the decision made by your liberal government by saying that everyone was a party to wanting to get the gas plants taken down now this might even be true this might be true but the mistake premier was putting them there in the first place and i think it's high time that you quit sidestepping responsibility for blowing 1.1 billion of tax dollars and get the house leader to admit the fact that it was putting them in the first place that caused the problem when are you going to do that thank you very much mr speaker and i uh i just want to uh remark that it's uh it's great that the member for a topical lake shore has paid very close attention to the answers that that we've been giving because it's very clear that this was a decision that all of the parties had taken mr speaker that all of them mr speaker the fact is that was the the liberal government that built those plants in the wrong place in the in the first instance and wasted 1.1 billion dollars they also could have rectified the problem without spending all that money if they had just taken some time and done it in the proper way but they were so concerned about getting on with the election they didn't care about tax dollars i want to know when are we going to get some accountability from your government and when are you going to side quit side stepping responsibility thank you thank you from your leader thank you Doug i'd be of quotes here mr speaker and once we go through hansard i think i'll be able to add some more but mr speaker don't believe me mr speaker this is the document that the opp file with the courts you'll want to hear it in september 2011 a provincial election campaign began and the liberal party this is the opp mr speaker and the liberal party of ontario promised to cancel the construction of the plant mississauga if they were elected the ontario progressive conservative member from dufferin callan had come to order also made similar promises of elected on the 6th of october the liberal party won the provincial election and formed a minority government even though they made the same promise during the election the opposing to leader of the third party thank you speaker my question is to the premier this week we learned of yet another tragic death in an ontario mine 36 year old paul rosette a mill right with two young children was killed on sunday in valet's copper kip cliffs melter it's been 30 years since a provincial commission investigated mine safety since then scores of minors in ontario have been killed and thousands of others have been injured last year the premier rejected a public inquiry into mine safety and instead chose a review but at the very first of public hearings in timmons and kirkland lake the government didn't advertise or even put out so much as a press release or media advisory to invite participants does the premier think this is acceptable speaker thank you speaker and thank you to the honorable member for this question i think all of us in the house was saddened to hear of this of this incident and i know that our thoughts are with the worker his family and his colleagues as this investigation specifically is ongoing it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the specifics of this issue but what i will tell you is that this government is committed to protecting the health and safety of minors and all workers in the province of ontario we know and we agree that it's time to thoroughly take a long look at mine safety in this province the chief prevention officer for the province of ontario has undertaken a comprehensive mining safety review we have an industry advisory group with industry with labor and health and safety representatives and we are going to continue this review because what we know is that we need to improve mine safety we need to make it even safer thank you well speaker talking the right words is simply not good enough on april 28th the day of mourning for injured workers MPPs across this province attend ceremonies to remember those who are killed or injured on the job as elective representatives we need to do everything in our power to end workplace deaths and injuries the premier refuses to conduct an inquiry will she commit today that the government review panel into mining safety will have the resources necessary to conduct numerous site visits to mining operations both below ground and above ground and advertise them with vigor and it would be nice if the liberal caucus over there paid attention to this question because people are dying on the job and they should be doing something to help them thank you see you please you see it please minister labor thank you speaker and uh I would like the house to know that the review was under has been underway for some time it was underway before this incident took place and it's going to continue arterial chief prevention officers undertaken that that review with an advisory group that's that's uh composed comprised of industry reps labor reps and health and safety reps public consultations are being held right now they've already been to timon's curfew on lake sudbury they're going on to the marathon in london in the future i'm encouraging all enterians that are interested in this very important issue to register attend these sessions provide their comments as to how we can make mine safety an important issue in this province that needs to obviously have some more attention answer that we need to improve safety we can make it even safer i believe speaker if we all work together we get all the points on this question in the minute from mrs auger himself thank you mr speaker my question is for the minister of health and long-term care we were to have a very special visitor with us in the house today unfortunately he has been able to join us but i would like to tell all of you a little bit about him 11 years ago at the age of 65 murph shafford became the oldest lung transplant recipient in the history of fronto general hospitals program since then he has been working tirelessly with waitlisted patients recipients and families to help them understand the transplant process murph selfless work is an inspiration to me and others across this province it also reminds us of the importance of organ donation april is be a donor month the trillium gift of life network is working with its partners to encourage enterians to register to be organ and tissue donors my question for them mr is question how we can best follow murph's example and we each do our part to encourage more enterians to help save lives thank you minister health long-term care well thank you speaker and thank you to the very fine member from mrs auger brampton south of that question and i want to join the members in thanking murph shafford for all the work that he has done i know that he's recently been recognized by the trillium gift of life networks board of directors for his tireless dedication to raising awareness about organ and tissue donation and transplantation and i know all members in the house join me in congratulating him speaker social media can be a very effective tool particularly when it comes to reaching out to younger people and that's why tgl and has been very active on facebook on youtube on twitter to encourage more people to register their content to donate their organs today is trillium gift of life networks mpp twitter day i want everyone in the house today to join me in tweeting their support of organ and tissue donation here's my tweet it takes two minutes to save eight lives registered to be an organ donor now at be a donor dot ca hashtag be a donor hashtag be a hero hashtag how can you not thank you supplementary thank you mr speaker mr i know we can all do more as individuals to encourage more enterians to register online at be a donor be a donor dot ca make a power of attorney so that someone that trust will ensure their wishes are followed but government has a responsibility too and i'm convinced that our government can play a positive role in getting more enterians to register as donors i would like to ask them mr through you speaker whatever government is doing to increase organ and tissue donation rates and decrease weightless time for patients awaiting life-saving transplants thank you minister speaker organ and tissue donation is one of the greatest gifts any any person can give one person's donation can save up to eight lives and help another 75 through tissue grafts i'm proud to say that 2012-13 was a record year 1009 organ transplants in Ontario 63% more than in 2003 and we've more than doubled the number of registered donors speaker 2.8 million of us now are registered but that's still lesson one in four enterians it's good progress but it's not enough the launch of be a donor dot ca has made it easier than ever for our enterians to become donors tgls gift of eight campaign increase registered donors and communities right across ontario and we now ask people in all service ontario centers that they have to line up for organ and tissue donation when they renew their driver's license or ontario photo photo cards together we'll continue to register more enterians to be organ and tissue donors thank you question the member from pretty much thank you speaker my question this morning is for the premier premier yesterday i asked you how much of your taxpayer funded salary uh was used for you know during the working day was spent on your personal legal drama that's playing out here at queens park and yesterday you responded by telling me that you like to run well we know that you like to run from scandals we know you like to run from accountability we know you like to run from the legacy of that premier that you idolized and sat next to you for 10 years packed this morning finish please mr speaker this morning she even ran from very pointed questions directed at her from the member from new market aurora but i digress since you wouldn't answer my question yesterday i'll give you another shot how many hours were taxpayers paying your salary so you can deal with legal legal lawyers thank you seated please thank you very much mr speaker and the point that i was making yesterday was that i work full-time every day for the people of this province for debate that is rooted in fact mr speaker that is what i will continue to push for so i'll continue my schedule mr speaker and i i reiterate my offer i didn't see you this morning at court very much uh mr speaker and back to the premier i was busy on my elliptical machine myself but uh we all know that the premier likes treating taxpayers like her own personal piggyback and that's what got us into this mess in the first place you think taxpayers are your own for your own atm machine but using taxpayer resources to deal with your personal legal problems i don't need the member from the topical north to help me and i want the member of the minister of world affairs to come to order i want the member from eglinton morris to come to order and i want the member of the minister of energy to come to order thank you the speaker they're getting quite a work out there this morning aren't they um they shouldn't be using taxpayer resources to deal with a very personal legal scandal question and this is all about the gas plant scandal they can't spin it anymore government resources are used to communicate it publicize it how many taxpayer dollars are you using on your own little legal drama seated please thank you mr speaker well you know i i i just want to be very very clear with the member opposite and the people of the province there are no tax dollars there are no tax dollars being used mr speaker in order to advance the legal case those those bills are being paid by the ontario liberal party mr speaker and i would not use i would not use tax dollars for that for that purpose but mr speaker let's just understand what is at stake here the political discourse in this province must be rooted in fact and i do not take legal action lightly mr speaker it is not something that is in my nature it is not something that i am inclined to do but it is very important to me that as we discuss the issues in this province mr speaker that we talk about facts and that we make stop please the uh the minister of rural affairs is warren new question the member from wellan the question is to the premier recently we learned that the ontario energy board approved an application from embridge ink for 40 increase to natural gas rates then we heard that the oeb refused a request from the consumers council of canada and from the vulnerable energies consumer coalition for a special session to review the impact of embridge's planned rate hike even the oeb staff said the request was entirely in order why is the oeb refusing to hear from the consumers and why were they so quick to grant this drastic increase in gas rate hikes minister of energy minister of energy speaker consumer groups who intervened in the process vulnerable energy consumers coalition and consu consumers council of canada submitted that the board should consider approving the rates on an interim basis and allow more consideration for smoothing out over time which is exactly what the oeb has done thank you supplementary well speaker my question is not about the smoothing it's about the initial increase my office has heard from many constituents and they're worried about their future with hydro rates set to increase by 45 percent and unemployment rates in my riding the highest in the province constituents are feeling squeezed jim lemontang from well and wrote to my office on march 30th to describe the impact of rising costs on families i quote the elderly couple that lives beside me are on a tight budget they did not want to turn their heat up this winter due to the fact they couldn't afford it they were bundled up with their jackets inside their home all winter did the oeb consider these families when they decided to approve a 40 percent rate height without asking enbridge the hard questions to determine whether or not the rate was even justified minister of energy mr speaker i've heard the members from the third party on occasion raised the question of the enbridge's gas uh gas increases and other issues with respect to energy pricing mr speaker but i have not heard them offer any solutions i would like to know what solution you're asking the implication mr speaker the implication is mr speaker that we should interfere with the uh with the proceedings at the ontario energy board which would be totally absolutely illegal and irregular mr speaker in order to do that mr speaker the the ontario energy board's mandate is to look after the interest of the consumer that's one of its main mandates mr speaker it examines the issues it rules on them and it gives rational reasons for the decisions one of the rational reasons mr speaker is that year over year energy consumption has gone up by between 15 and 20 percent because of the nature of the winter mr speaker they choose to totally ignore thank you thank you a new question the member from um hope ridges mark them thank you mr speaker my question is for the minister of rural affairs minister ontario's economic landscape is changing ontario's small and rural communities are becoming more complex and diverse and face unique challenges when it comes to economic development and job growth there are currently a number of programs designed to assist rural municipalities with these challenges including the southwestern ontario development fund and eastern ontario development fund while these programs address many important priorities such as business development and innovation there is always room to do more mr speaker through you to the minister of rural affairs could the minister please update the house on what our government is doing to strengthen rural economies thank you the minister of rural affairs well thanks very much to mr speaker and i do appreciate the fine question for the member from oak ridges up mark them mr speaker as at all creating jobs and growing the province's rural economy are key priorities for this government this is where initiatives like the rural economic development program come into play red supports high value low cross projects that build a foundation for economic growth these projects show off the innovation and community partnerships which are so important and emblematic of rural ontario since 2003 through the red program our government has invested 171 billion dollars in 418 projects which has generated over 1.2 billion dollars in local economic activity and board board mr speaker 35 000 jobs i know by working together we could strengthen rural communities every day in ontario cute supplementary thank you mr speaker and thank you to the minister for that answer i'm glad to hear that the ontario government takes the economic needs of small and rural municipalities seriously i have many small rural communities in my great writing of oak ridges mark them and many have benefited from business retention and expansion projects in the past through the rural economic development program however my constituents would like to know even more about this program what type of parameters are well how they apply all the details related to this particular program so speaker could you through to the minister could the minister please elaborate on what kinds of individual projects the rural economic development program does support thank you minister well thanks very much mr speaker and on monday i was in the wonderful community of stratford ontario and i was in the company of a former very distinguished member huwedeckhoffer who served so ably from 1967 to 1990 and the speaker from 1985 to 1990 and he was there to celebrate with us along with municipal leaders a hundred and seventy thousand dollars were investing in local projects each year to enhancing the local economy creating jobs first of all i want to talk about a great one the little community of shakespeare shakespeare the company there has developed quality fertilizers which is using the funds to promote its new product line of fertilizers made from recycled natural materials an enormous breakthrough in the province of ontario mr speaker it's a perfect example of a unique project at rural Ontario and it's worth investing in local projects like these funded to red are all about key partnerships by working with our rural partners working with minister leaders working with the private sector thank you we can do great things in rural your question remember some new marks of the war speaking my question is to the premier earlier today in this question period i tabled our concern about an assistant deputy minister patricia lee counseling staff to make a statement in a letter to orange that was untrue found to be so by their own council once the premier has had an opportunity to consider the facts and it is in fact proven that the assistant deputy minister conducted herself in that way i want to ask the premier what will the consequences be for that assistant deputy minister the minister of health and long-term care said that she would look into this issue mr speaker she would determine what the facts are mr speaker she will do that mr speaker and the member is asking me a hypothetical question about what might happen in the future i do not have an answer to that question mr speaker nor do i choose to answer hypothetical questions the minister of health and long-term care will look into the matter and we will get the fact thank you very much mr speaker the third vote this house stands recessed until 3 p.m. this afternoon