 It is now time for question period, now time for question period. The member from New Market, Aurora. Speaker, my question is to the Premier. Speaker on February the 19th, just a few weeks ago, here is what the Premier told Ontarians and this legislature through the Lieutenant Governor in her speech from the throne, and I'll quote, for the benefit of the entire province, your government intends to work with opposition parties in a spirit of renewed cooperation to get the people's business done. Speaker, we want to take the Premier up on that offer. And in that same spirit of cooperation, I'd like to ask the Premier, will she agree to strike a select committee of the legislature so that we can help the government find the additional two billion dollars to pay for transit without burdening taxpayers and businesses of this province? Questions? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and you know, I really wish that as a result of the conversations that I had had with the Leader of the Opposition and the opportunities that we had to exchange ideas that once the budget was introduced that there wasn't an immediate response that the opposition was not going to support the budget without even reading the budget, Mr. Speaker. That was the response. So, I truly believe that I have reached out, that I have done my best to work with all members of the legislature, and I will continue to do that, Mr. Speaker. The reality is that for decades there has been no commitment on the part of the provincial government to have a dedicated revenue stream to build transit, and the member opposite knows full well. He was a Minister of Transportation. There was no dedicated revenue stream for transit, Mr. Speaker. There needs to be, and we're going to make that happen. Comments? Speaker, that's precisely why we're making the offer that we're making. That spirit of renewed cooperation seems to have evaporated, or is it just in order to prop yourself up to stay in government? I want to read further from that thrown speech, Speaker. Quote, your new government believes that complex times require thoughtful, collaborative solutions. We agree, and that's why we are asking the Premier to take our offer very seriously. Why will the Premier not agree to strike that select committee of all parties of this legislature so that we can get to work while she's having her conversations with finding that $2 billion in savings and waste right across this government so we can get on with the construction and dedicate $2 billion of revenue to transit in this project? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So a few weeks ago, what the members opposite were asking us to do was to focus on implementing the Drummond Commission recommendations, Mr. Speaker, and do that transformation of government that was laid out in Don Drummond's report. We're doing that, Mr. Speaker, and the 60% of the recommendations are already in the works or have been implemented, Mr. Speaker. We continue to do the transformation of government that is finding savings, that is constraining the costs, that is constraining our spending, Mr. Speaker. We're doing all that, and all of that is not going to deliver $2 billion a year to deal with the congestion issues in the GTHA. The member opposite knows that, Mr. Speaker. He's been a minister of transportation. He knows that that has not been a focus of the provincial government for decades. We need to make it a focus, Mr. Speaker, because people need to be able to get around the GTHA to their homes and to their work. Member from Renfrew will come to order. Final supplementary. Speaker, February 19th was not that long ago. I remember the ceremony here, and I remember the awesome commitment that this premier made to cooperation. I want to read from the closing remarks of that throne speech. I quote, all parties in each member will be encouraged to contribute to this process to make their insights known. Your new government hopes that ideas will be put forward with optimism and purpose, and that voices will not be raised solely for the pursuit or retention of power. Your government is committed to finding a real, creative solution to the issues we face, and then it goes on to say, Speaker, to do this it will direct its efforts across the aisle. That's from your throne speech, Speaker. Speaker, I ask the premier one more time. In all seriousness, why will she not agree to the creative idea collaboratively to work with opposition parties, strike that select committee, so that we can get on with our room and fund transit in this process? They have appreciated the opportunity to meet with the leader of the opposition. We have had a number of very good conversations, Mr. Speaker, and there are some things that it would be great if we could find a way to cooperate on. For example, Mr. Speaker, I have already mentioned, it would have been great for the opposition, the PCs, to have read the budget before rejecting it. It would have been great, Mr. Speaker, for the opposition not to have rejected the throne speech. It would be wonderful, Mr. Speaker, if every single piece of legislation was not being stalled in this legislature. Legislation that would protect kids from cancer, Mr. Speaker. Legislation that would support Ontario farmers. Legislation that would bring the budget through the process. It would be terrific if we could have that kind of cooperative working relationship, Mr. Speaker. We're working to constrain expenses. We're working to transform government, Mr. Speaker. We also have to work to invest in transit. Thank you. Absolutely. Your question. I'm going to start with Ian Carlton. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to question the Premier today. Last summer, your government handed over hiring rights in our schools to the provincial unions. As a result of Bill 115, we said we would support the bill, but we demanded that the hiring provision be stricken. The government said they would do that, but after the bill passed, they put in a snuck in a regulation 27412 to appease their union friends. Now, predictably, school boards and teachers are opposed to this, and that's why our party put forward an opposition-day motion to rescind regulation 274, the government opposed that. But now the metal is hitting the floor, Premier, and school boards are concerned about next year. So how is your government going to address the drastic decline of the quality of teaching in our classrooms as a result of your hiring policies? And why aren't you committed to putting the best teacher in the room, not the teacher that has the most seniority? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So I know that the Minister of Education is going to want to speak to the specifics of that discussion with the unions, but let me just say, Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased that in the time that we have been in office, that I have been in this office, Mr. Speaker, that we have been able to begin to re-establish the positive working relationship with the education sector, with the teachers, with the support staff, with our school boards, Mr. Speaker, because that relationship, I believe, is fundamental to the achievement, the success of our students in this province. I do not expect the member opposite, Mr. Speaker, to value that relationship. That has not been a cornerstone of their practice in this house, Mr. Speaker, or when they were government. It is ours. We believe in that relationship. We believe that it's important that publicly funded education works best when government and the education sector are working together, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, look at this caucus. Most of us have kids and the kids in the classrooms, but let me read from three teachers who wrote to the Premier and myself. I want to hear both the question and the answer. Please continue. Please read from three teachers who wrote to me and to the Premier. Carrie from the Upper Garand district says, I was hired based on merit, but with the implementation of Regulation 274, I'm being denied an opportunity to work within a school community that I love. Sam from the Ottawa Catholic School Board wrote to me and the Premier and said Regulation 274 is destroying the concept of merit. If it was really about putting students first, let's give them the best and rescind Regulation 274. Chris who wrote to me from Guelph was very disappointed that the Minister of Education and his own MPP were fuses to meet with him and other teachers in this situation. I am afraid the regulation is going to force me to leave the teaching profession. Premier, will you listen to Carrie, will you listen to Sam, and will you listen to Chris and put the best teachers back in the classroom and receive 274 and stop putting you in the classroom? Thank you. Premier? Education. Yes. Thank you very much. I think it's important to understand that in fact Reg 274, although it does look at past experience and issues like seniority, is actually there to make sure that young teachers have an opportunity to get jobs and we want to make sure that we're not looking only at seniority and we're not looking at family relationships and things like that, that we actually are giving young teachers an opportunity to apply for jobs. We want to make sure that they're posted so that they even know when there is a job available. Boards still have the ability to make the ultimate hiring decisions, but I think we need a bit of an update here on Reg 274. In fact, as we speak, there is a working table between OSSTF and the public boards looking at, can they agree on modifications? Thank you. If the minister were reading her correspondence, as I most certainly am, she would realize that it's young teachers who are writing in to her and I. If she would meet with her own constituents about this, she would recognize that this is a big problem and if she were to talk about boards, she would know that the Toronto District School Board last evening wanted to address nepotism and to make sure that not only is this bill, this regulation rescinded, but that they are actually part of the process. We want to actually eliminate that through conflict of interest so that this would be redundant. But let me talk about Leslie from Toronto. She says it won't matter that the school students already know and love the sixth most senior or the sixtieth most senior applicant or that none of the five most senior applicants is interested in doing co-curricular activities or that a newly graduated teacher speaks a language of 70% of the school's parents. The Toronto District School Board last night adopted her approach, Leslie's approach. They know as well as I do, and what Leslie knows, is that regulation 274 isn't about the best teacher in our classroom. And I will say this. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Minister? Yes, thank you and I'm sorry. I don't think that the member opposite heard what I said about a working group looking exactly at some of the issues that have been raised by the teachers and the individual teachers and by school boards and quite frankly by the union, because we have been working with our teachers, with our unions, and we have been working with our school boards. And one of the things that we agreed to was to set up a working table to explicitly look at the rate. The member from Renfrew, I want to hear the answer. Here we are. So we have working together, as I speak. We have a working group that's been set up between OSSTF and the public school boards looking at are there changes which they want to make to the regulation, because we believe that the best way to get a resolution for this ASU is for us all to sit down and work together and come up with a sensible resolution that solves everybody's issues. Question, the leader of the third party. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Does the Premier believe that staff in the Premier's office should follow the laws of the province when it comes to retaining documents and keeping government accountable? Yes, Mr. Speaker. I do. The documents and emails in the cabinet offices are not the personal property of the cabinet ministers. They belong to the public and are supposed to be kept in the public interest. Does the Premier think it is acceptable that staff in the Premier's office and other minister's offices have failed to keep and at times deliberately deleted emails and other documents? Premier? We have taken these obligations very seriously. I have insured and the government house leader and over this yesterday, I have insured that all staff are aware of our responsibilities in terms of retaining documents. There has been a training for staff and for new staff so that they understand what the responsibilities are. We have provided more than 130,000 documents of the nature that the leader of the third party is asking about. So it is very important to me, Mr. Speaker, that we follow the rules, that we retain the documents that we are meant to retain and that that applies to all staff, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Final supplementary? People are very worried today because they feel that governments that are supposed to be working for them seem more concerned about protecting their own political hides. They see it at City Hall in Toronto, they see it in Ottawa and sadly, they see it here day in and day out. Real staff and the government are supposed to follow the rules and not bury politically inconvenient details. How can Ontarians trust that this Premier won't allow this to happen in the future when the same abuses keep happening over and over and over again? Mr. Speaker, as I said, I came into this office. I made it very clear that we were going to have an open, transparent process around all of the issues that we deal with, Mr. Speaker. But the issue of the relocation of the gas plants was obviously front and center. Made it clear that all staff, we were going to be following the rules, we're going to be retaining documents that we were meant to be meant to be retaining, Mr. Speaker, and provided training for staff so that they would understand, even if they had understood before, that they were going to have a renewed understanding of what those rules were, Mr. Speaker. We have done all of that. We have provided documentation as we have been asked for by the committee, and we will continue to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My next question is also for the Premier. In tough times, people need their government to be accountable and transparent. They've been asked to make sacrifices to make tough choices, and when they see their government scrambling to hide facts and squander scarce public resources, they feel like they're being played for fools. Yesterday, I met with the former parliamentary budget officer, Kevin Page. We talked about the importance of real accountability and giving families access to real information about how the government is spending their money. Is the government prepared to use the new financial accountability office to give people accurate, independent information on government decisions? Mr. Speaker, I think we've said quite clearly that in the process of our discussions around the passage of the budget, that having a financial accountability officer in place as an independent voice on these issues was something that we believed as a team was a good idea, and it was a good idea that the leader of the third party raised. We are going to work to that end and introduce legislation to create that office, Mr. Speaker. So, yes, I think it's a good idea. We've said yes, and I look forward to working with the leader of the third party, and I hope the leader of the opposition on that. Mr. Speaker, the government is moving ahead with plans for a sell-off of government assets, such as plans to sell service Ontario and Ontario Northland. The government has also made it clear that they plan to move ahead with plans for more corporate tax giveaways and tax cuts for Ontario's highest income earners as soon as the books in this province are balanced. Is the Premier ready to put these schemes on hold until the new financial accountability office has a chance to actually review them? So, Mr. Speaker, we are going to continue to make decisions to bring policy forward, to bring legislation forward. One of the pieces of that will be the creation of the financial accountability office. But, Mr. Speaker, everything that we are doing with an eye to what is in the best interest of the people of the province, how can we maximize service to people and reduce costs as we go along, Mr. Speaker? And we will continue in that work. We are not going to put all of the work of the government on hold while we bring forward one piece of legislation. There has to be a complex introduction of various pieces of policy and legislation over time. We will continue to do that, Mr. Speaker. And one of the pieces of legislation will be on the financial accountability office. Final supplementary. Where people feel like they are falling behind and too often when they look at their government, they see their needs being pushed aside so the government can move ahead with plans that help their well-connected insiders and leave them paying more and getting less. A financial accountability office is one small step towards greater transparency and greater accountability, Speaker. Can the Premier ensure that she will allow this new office to do its job and not ram through decisions before it can be established? So Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the discussion on the legislation of the financial accountability office and it will be a good discussion and I think that it's a good idea. I want to just let the people of the province know, Mr. Speaker, that we are in the process now of bringing forward a budget that is going to make a difference in their lives. It is going to be a budget that's going to help young people find jobs, it's a budget that is going to invest in infrastructure and communities across the province, Mr. Speaker, and it's a budget when it is passed, if it is passed, that will allow us, Mr. Speaker, to help people to make changes in their day-to-day lives. And Mr. Speaker, the good news that we have received in the last couple of days is that the credit agencies have said that we are on the right track. Standard and Poor's yesterday, Mr. Speaker, said supporting ratings are what we view as Ontario's large, wealthy and welder diversified economy. The province is forecasting an improvement in its operating deficit and after capital deficits, both deficits outperformed the government's forecast for the fourth consecutive year. We're on the right track, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. First, Mr. Member from Lansing, Kent Middleside. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question this morning is for the Premier. Premier, earlier this week we spoke about the 25,000 jobs now at risk throughout Ontario due to the Liberal NDP decision to cancel the apprenticeship tax credit without any consultations. We spoke about 8,000 jobs that the NDP is risking in Northern Ontario and we spoke about the thousands of jobs in and around London and Windsor now in Jeopardy. In Brantford, an area that our Speaker knows well, this Liberal decision has put four call centres at risk. Together, NCO, Wipro Technologies, Union Gas and Extend Communications add over 1,000 important jobs to Brantford and Brant County. Premier, you blew nearly $1 billion to cancel the gas plants in Mississauga and Oakville. Are you so desperate for revenue that you are willing to risk 1,000 good jobs in Brantford? Mr. Speaker, I'm proud of this government's record over the last several years of creating more than 400,000 jobs in this province. Many of those jobs in the manufacturing centre, many of those frankly are call centre jobs as well. In Brantford, which is a place I know well and I know is an important place, Brantford just recently benefited from a project that we funded under the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund. And I was proud to be able to be part of an announcement of $1.5 million to a company called Hematite in Brantford to support jobs for them to add more lines and more employment in that important city as they recover from this difficult recession that we've all. So I've had the privilege of being able to announce the number of projects, the member opposite of course knows well. I'm sure of those projects being in his riding. The Southwestern Ontario Development Fund is making a big difference in impacting precisely the way the member opposite would like. Thank you, supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. Back to the Premier. Earlier this week I received an important letter from the Mayor of Chatham Kent, Randy Hope addressed to Minister Dugud. Mayor Hope expressed concerns as a result of the proposed changes to the apprenticeship tax credit and the thousands of jobs at risk in Chatham Kent and across this province. The letter outlines the case of Minnax, one of Ontario's largest contact centres who wish to continue its expansion into Ontario but is now being forced to look at US locations putting 3,400 current jobs at risk. Mayor Hope's letter outlines a simple and easily implemented solution to your problem. Premier, are you going to listen to the Mayor and reverse your decision to kill the apprenticeship tax credit or will you continue to risk up to 25,000 good-paying jobs throughout this province? Well, of course, we respect the opinion of Mayor Randy Hope of Chatham Kent. Particularly when it comes to his views on the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund, he was instrumental in providing his support to ensure that not only the program existed, despite the fact that the official opposition voted against the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund and put measures in place to even delay its passage in the legislature and delay these funds getting to the good people of Southwestern Ontario. So the Mayor, who I've met personally as well and spoken to him on this and other issues, his recommendations are always welcome on this side of the legislature. And I have to say that in terms of all centres as well, and Barry, I was very proud to hear not that long ago a $20 million annual investment by HES and Barry, the Mayor there, incidentally, was also very happy because that's creating 500 new jobs in Barry in call centres. Thank you. New question from Toronto Danforth. Thank you, Speaker. My question to the Premier. When the government established the Green Energy Act, it promised that green energy technology in Ontario would be built in Ontario and create jobs in Ontario. Can the Premier confirm that her government now plans to abandon provisions that require green energy companies to build equipment and create jobs here in Ontario? Mr. Speaker, we have in the introduction of the Green Energy Act and the work that we've done in renewable energy over the last couple of years, we have jumpstarted an industry that really didn't exist in Ontario. So our commitment to continuing to work with the green energy sector, and maximize the job creation out of that sector, is firm. We believe that this is an important industry to the province of Ontario, which is why our commitment to it can remain strong. Premier, that doesn't actually answer the question. The push for renewable energy was supposed to be an opportunity to create good quality manufacturing jobs here in Ontario. And sadly, your government's approach has been marred by broken promises and flip-flops. Now it looks like you're giving up on good jobs, good manufacturing jobs here in Ontario. Provinces like Quebec and countries around the world have been able to ramp up renewable power, and ensure that manufacturing happens locally to create local jobs. Their programs haven't been scrapped by the WTO. Will this government finally admit that it has made a complete and utter mess, and look to other provinces to ensure that we keep manufacturing jobs here in Ontario? No, Mr. Speaker, I won't admit that, because we've created 31,000 jobs in Ontario. I really would have thought that the member opposite would have been supportive of that initiative, Mr. Speaker, that the member opposite would have thought that that was a very good thing. What we have announced today, and the Minister of Energy is speaking about it, today, Mr. Speaker, is that we believe that the process whereby some of the green energy infrastructure has been cited needs to be modified. It's one of the things that, when I became the leader of the party, Mr. Speaker and the Premier, I said we were going to deal with a better process going forward for municipalities to have a stronger voice. That's what we have announced, Mr. Speaker. That's what the Minister of Energy has been working on. So we recognize that programs need to be modified, and that processes need to change. But they need to change based on the evidence of good successes and the gaps that we have discovered, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Your question, the member from England from Lawrence. Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Education. In our schools, we have some of the best teachers, we have some of the best students working hard, and our parents are doing their best to ensure that our schools remain the best along with our teachers. But one of the concrete issues that parents have come to me about over the last while especially is about the safety of their children. They are worried about how safe our schools are. They're worried about their kids coming to school safely and going home safely. They really get upset when they hear there's a lockdown in one of our schools. So the question I want to pose to you, Minister, is as this education system delivers great education, what are we doing in a concrete way as a government to work with school boards to make sure our kids are safe in school? Minister of Education. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to the member from Eglinton Lawrence, who is always an advocate for the schools and the parents and the kids in his writing. Our government knows, Speaker, that in order for our students to learn well, they need to learn in a safe and accepting school environment. Since 2003, we've invested over $360 million in safe schools and equity and inclusive education initiatives. We actually recently reopened the Safe Welcome program with an additional investment of $10 million to give school staff more control over who enters the schools so that we can keep our kids safe once they're inside the school. And through working with organizations like the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police and the Committee of Youth Officers of Ontario, we've developed safety protocols. Elementary and secondary schools are required to work with local police on safety protocols, on long-term protocols to make sure we keep our kids safe. Thank you. Supplementary. Thank you, Minister. And you know, the principals, the parents, the students are telling me very directly, one of the things that we've done with the school boards that really makes our schools safe is our police officers in the school. That has been very well received, and it is working to prevent crime from coming anywhere near our schools. The other thing that's very apparent is, in some neighborhoods there are very few issues about safety, but in other neighborhoods in my riding of Eggman Lords, there are some serious risks, and these are in our vulnerable at-risk neighborhoods where I know it's hard to believe in some situations, but some kids are basically afraid to go to school. They may get shot going to school or shot on the way home from school. So this is a very, very traumatic concern for our parents, our principals, and our students. So I want to know, what are we doing to ensure that in these at-risk neighborhoods, which are real and very, very challenging, what are we doing extra to protect the kids in those schools? Thank you. Thank you to the member and thank you speaker. I too would like to thank the local police and the school boards who've worked together to provide school officer programs. They certainly have an impact, but with respect to demographic issues, we actually have something called the Learning Opportunities Grant, which is targeted at school boards, which have a higher than usual number of low-income neighborhoods in their communities. That's actually almost half a billion dollars a year that goes specifically to the Learning Opportunity Grants to support kids. Our government also provides 10 million annually to specific high-need schools in urban areas that face challenges like poverty and crime. We're also working to provide children in low-income neighborhoods with summer learning opportunities. If we can get this budget pass speaker, we have an additional 12 million dollars targeted. Thank you. Summer learning counts in high-risk neighborhoods. Thank you. New question? Member from Mipissing? Thank you, Speaker. And good morning. Speaker, my question this morning is for the Premier. Premier, a few minutes ago, you spoke about a new open and transparent style of governing. In fact, you mentioned the fact... The Member from Trader Colts University is the style of open and transparent speaking. You mentioned that your staff and your government has been given training with respect to the gas plant scandal documents. My one question, Speaker, is does that training include using Gmail accounts for your staff to hide the information from the Freedom of Information Officer? Wow. We asked issues around emails, both yesterday and today. The Information and Privacy Commissioner is looking into the matter. I would also remind the Member that we've had 130,000 documents. That's an estimate of the number of pages that we've given the committee. But what's interesting, Mr. Speaker, is the way that the Honorable Member keeps trying to escape from the simple fact. And, you know, it's still there, Mr. Speaker. They oppose the very gas plants. And again, Mr. Speaker, we ask what their estimate is. We also ask when they did their estimate whether they added the extra 85,000 that they're paying because of the robo-calls that they had to promote the fact that they were opposed to the gas plant and they were the only ones who would cancel it according to their very own robo-call. And, sir, thank you, supplementary. Unbelievable. Thank you very much, Speaker. Unfortunately, I didn't get an answer to my question about whether the training included using secret Gmail accounts for the Premier's staff. I can imagine why they're a little riled this morning, Speaker. We have Melanie Francis, 28, at Gmail. Of course, you know who I mean. She's the lawyer in the House Leader's Office using a Gmail account to talk about the gas plant transaction. We have M.M. Smith, 442, at Gmail. That's Manik Smith talking about the gas plant dealing with your office. There are a lot of Gmail accounts here. Let me ask you a question, Premier. Are these Gmail accounts because the freedom of information cannot get at the... I understand some of these people are gone today, but we also understand, and I'd like you to answer, were these Gmail accounts used because you have trained them? You can't have a freedom of information request for Gmail accounts? Member from Renfrew, are you okay? From Bruce Gray Owen Sound, the time that I'm standing, you're not supposed to be making any sound. Thank you. Government else there? Mr. Speaker, it's kind of passing strange. He's saying we're hiding documents, and he, in fact, has the documents. Mr. Speaker, we have made... The member from Bruce Gray Owen Sound, even when I'm sitting, you're not supposed to be making some of that sound. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, we have made every effort to provide the committee with documents. In fact, the Premier, when she assumed office, offered to have a government-wide search for relevant documents, and the opposition turned it down. As I say, Mr. Speaker, 130,000 pages is the estimate of what we've given the committee. We also have, within that 30,000, which has come from the Premier's office, in terms of the responsibility of all government officials, including political staff, we have instituted training and systems in various minister's offices to make sure that records are safe in compliance with the law. Thank you. A new question? The member from London Fanchel. My question is to the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. The minister yesterday made promises to EMDC workers that she would do something about the conditions at Elgin Middlesex Attention Center. But the minister has made many promises and conditions have only deteriorated in London and at jails across the province. Can the minister explain why this time we should believe that she is serious and will finally take the necessary actions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I want to thank the member from London Middlesex. No, London Fanchel for our question. Yes, indeed. Yesterday I had a great meeting with the leadership of the Opsu with regard to EMDC. As you know, the health and safety of the Correctional Officer, the inmate at EMDC is my number one priority. So we've discussed what the 12-point plan, what should be, what should be the first thing that we, that is burning, that we can do as soon as possible. We had a great dialogue. We agree on what we're going to do from now to the end of June. And then we'll move forward with the rest of the improvement in the correct this detention center. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, supplementary. Speaker, the minister has talked about creating a board to oversee EMDC and outright dismissed my suggestion to include Correctional Officers on the board. And without this representation, we know that this board will be nothing more than a PR exercise. It will be destined to fail. Years of promises did not fix the problems at EMDC and a weak board will not either. It's clear that this minister is unable to do her job and the lives of workers and inmates are on the line. Will the minister resign so her government can take action to resolve the problems at EMDC? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Everyone, the seven member of the Upsu with who I met yesterday and those who work as the Correctional Officer in EMDC. We had a very frank conversation and I wanted to take the opportunity to thank them. Four on the short notice, you know, they came to meet with me. And most importantly, we discussed how to work together to improve the condition at EMDC and across the province. The president of Upsu was happy with the meeting and said, and I'm cold. I'm glad that Minister Maillard is giving Correctional Officer the attention they deserve. If we can continue on this path, Answer. It will lead to much needed improvement and will ultimately save lives. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Good question. The member from Scarborough Angel Court. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the minister responsible for seniors. Mr. Speaker, Ontario has the most diverse seniors population in Canada. In fact, 55% of Canada's immigrant seniors reside in Ontario. And one third of them speak mother tongue other than English or French. What is more, seven percent report no knowledge of either English or French. As a result, they may find themselves unable to access service available to them in our province. I know that in my riding of Scarborough Angel Court, many retirement homes, long-term care facilities such as Tender Care, Monjean, Shepard Village, and St. Paul Landry offer programs and assistance in languages other than English and French. Mr. Speaker, through you to the minister, can he please tell the House what measures are being taken to ensure seniors in diverse communities like mine, Scarborough Angel Court, are supporting Ontario. Question. Thank you. Minister, is it possible for seniors? Thank you very much. Speaker, I would like to thank the member from Scarborough Angel Court for a very important question indeed. Speaker, our government is dedicated to serving Ontario diverse seniors population. It is my commitment and that of this government to ensure that seniors indeed in Ontario live in a secure and very supportive environment. We are working hard to collaborate with our partners across government to develop and support culturally appropriate services and resources which cater to the various languages spoken to Ontario seniors and by Ontario seniors. And some of this service includes, Speaker, multicultural seniors fairs, seniors active living fairs held throughout the province, including North and Ontario communities, presentation by the Ontario senior secretariat with a range of multicultural seniors organization and also, Speaker, I'd like to program and service for seniors in five different languages. Speaker, we do this and we'll continue to the more on behalf of our seniors. Speaker, it's good to hear from the minister that our government has taken action to ensure Ontario's supporting its diverse senior population. I know that in my writing of Scarborough agent court local agencies and community groups such as ACSA and CICS help inform seniors of some of the programs available in our province. Mr. Speaker, we also aware that in just five years Ontario seniors population will outnumber the children's age 15 and under. The fastest growth will occur in the oldest age group as of over 75 or age is projected to be more than double and a 90 plus group will be more than triple. Mr. Speaker, can the minister inform this legislature some of the initiatives and public education efforts implemented by our government to improve the quality of life of all Ontario seniors? Speaker, this government is working very hard to make Ontario the best place in North America to grow old continuing to deliver information affairs in Northern Ontario and remote communities funding the seniors in the line through service Ontario and provide a multi-lingual capacity as well providing a guide to program and service for seniors in French, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Punjabi and providing a guide called diversity in action. A toolkit for residential setting for seniors to increase the cultural awareness in seniors homes. Speaker, most recently, I was also very glad to join the MPP for Scarborough Aging Board for a senior surround table and the minister of rural affairs launching the seniors month kickoff in the beautiful city of Fidderboro. We are continuing to demonstrate this government's will and commitment to a health and secure environment for all our seniors in Ontario. Speaker, that's your answer. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Question to the member from Sonia Lantis. Thank you. My question to the minister of community safety and correctional services. Minister, during your government's term of office we've seen the prison population at the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre and other prisons in Ontario increased from one in two inmates per cell to three and four per cell. Today, Ontario's prisons are bursting at the seams. I've seen this firsthand, minister. Your decision to close five jails in southwestern Ontario is to strip hundreds of beds from this correction system has contributed to this. On Tuesday of this week, you blamed everyone else for the knives, drugs, riots, fires and overcrowding in our prison's prisons. They're raking havoc on Ontario's prisons. Minister, the buck stops with you. Will you stand in this house today and admit that there's no one else here to blame but yourself and in that government? Mr. Speaker, I'm very, very confused here. You know, this question coming from a party who closed 19 jails in Ontario and did away with almost every rehabilitation program. So I'm not about to take any lesson from that party. What I wanted to do, it's to improve the situation in our correctional facility. And since I've been appointed to that ministry, that's what I'm doing. And that's why I have a regular meeting with UPSU and we will continue to have regular meeting with UPSU to make sure that the situation improves. And at the end of the day, I want to make sure that everybody is safe. Those workers who come to do a good job every day and those inmates that we have the responsibility for. Thank you. Thank you. Supplementary. A member from Elgin, the middle sex London. To the minister, minister, I'm going to help you out with your confusion here. Minister, the problems at the Elgin middle sex detention centre this week are a result of your neglect. The spread of the fires on Wednesday was a result of EMDC's antiquated meal hatches. Your 12 point plan introduced last August promised new meal hatches for this very reason. However, construction has not yet begun. During these fires, the correctional officers lacked enough fire related equipment and many had to use their own shirts to provide smoke inhalation. That's shameful. Adequate fire related equipment was also on that 12 point plan that you did not deliver on. Minister, you're not doing your job. And when there are lives at stake, you don't deserve a second chance. Will you do the honorable thing and resolve. Thank you. Minister. Okay, thank you very much. So I'm going to, I'm going to let the member from Elgin middle sex to know. Minister. Let me say to the member what we have done so far. We have hired 11 new full time correctional officer. We have now 24 hour nursing that was implemented. We added a mental health nurses. We hired three more operational manager. We are building a new control model module for staff. We have superintendent and deputate lesson tour many times a week. We have operation manager. What they should do. It's to a tour every day. And that's what they are doing now. The capacity is monitored every day. And so again, you know, the previous government closed 19 jail slash funding and got it all we have. I'm going to ask the member from Halton to come to order and the member from Prince Edward Hastings to come to order. And if you would mind going to his seat so I can tell him the same thing, just in case he doesn't get it. So what they have done, they have adopted a fail Americans answer warehousing approach. And that's what we're trying to correct. And your party's decision have led to the majority of the challenges that we are facing today. Thank you very much. The member from the PN Carlton will come to order as well. New question. The member from Canora Rainey River. Gavir. Thank you, Speaker. To the minister of the infrastructure, the Mary Birdland Community Health Centre in Ignace is one of the top health care facilities in the north with people from across the region traveling to the CHC to access its services. In 2010 through the Ontario Realty Corporation, this government more than doubled its rent, putting their long term viability at risk. After much pressure, the Northwest Lynn agreed to provide the Mary Birdland CHC with a temporary and partial funding increase to 2015, after which time the CHC will be forced to further cut staff and services or close its doors. My question is simple. Is the Ministry of Infrastructure so short on cash that it has to pillage other departments to pay its bills? Let's be clear here, Mr. Speaker. The Mary Birdland Community Health Centre is paying $5 a square foot rent. I would hardly describe that as an onerous level of rent. I don't know if anyone in this house knows of an organization that pays $5 per square foot rent. Outside there, it's $30 or $40, and in most small towns in Peterborough, you pay a lot more. As a matter of fact, what we can determine is that the going rate for rent right now is $12 a square foot. So by any measure, Mary Birdland has a very good deal. We have been working right now because the policy of the government so that we don't artificially subsidize through the back door is to have a market rent, which would in this case normally be $10 or $12. But there is a default position for some centres which has been in place for about 15 years, which is to go to a standard $5 square foot rent. We're working on other solutions, but right now I don't think the challenge is the rent they're paying. Thank you, supplementary. Minister, this situation is not acceptable. Your department is working with facts and figures that are way out of line with a community of Ignacy's size and northern location. Other comparable CHCs in the north that occupy similar spaces pay $60,000 rent, while Mary Birdland's CHC is forced to pay $200,000 a year. Something is not right. They do not have $40,000 square feet. They have $1,700. They are not paying $5 a square foot. Let me tell you. Minister, I urge you to fix this problem by either lowering the rent to a more reasonable amount or selling the building to the CHC for a nominal amount. We need action now to avoid another health care crisis in northwestern Ontario. Minister, what are you willing to do to ensure that your department fixes this situation? Thank you, minister. That being said, Mr. Speaker, I do agree with the member's point. She's absolutely right. We have to reconcile to get a rent. And from what I understand, and I am working with you on this and we're on the same page on it, the volume of space that I understand Mary Birdland has as part of the problem, they're in a building that has a lot of challenges with it and that. So what can we do about this? Well, the local Linn, Infrastructure Ontario is working with the health ministry to try and reconcile the rent and the payment system right now because they can't afford it. We're also looking at the amount of room which I am told, and I will be going up there as soon as the house rises personally to visit the site and I would be happy to do it with you to try and look at if we could reduce the amount or find other ways to reduce the amount of space so that the storage or surplus space they don't need and they don't have to pay for. So we're very committed to working with you on a solution but the point that the rent is very high until someone shows me other evidence doesn't look, it looks like it's about half what the going rate is. Thank you, new question. Member for Major X Pickering. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Attorney General. Currently on site, winery retail store open on Labor Day, Canada Day, Thanksgiving, Victoria Day and Family Days in areas where there is a tourist exemption by-law as implemented by the local municipality. However, there are still many statutory holidays when winery retail stores cannot open for business and take advantage of opportunities to sell our fine Ontario wine on some of their busiest days. I know that the Alcohol and Gaming Commission an agency that reports to you, the Minister of the Attorney General, administers a variety of authorization policies for liquor manufacturer stores. Mr. Speaker, could the Attorney General please tell us what recent progress has been made to further improve the conditions that encourage the success of small businesses that serve tourists across Ontario, particularly in those rural communities? Thank you, Attorney General. Thank you, Speaker. And I want to thank the member from AJAX Pickering for that excellent, excellent question. We all know that wineries, breweries and decideries form an important part of Ontario's economy and the culture of Ontario wines and beers have become world famous and renowned over the last number of years. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission was asked to revise their policy on operating days for on-site retail stores. And I'm pleased to announce that these on-site stores are now permitted to open on all nine holidays listed under the Retail Business Holidays Act, which include Easter Sunday, Good Friday, New Year's and Christmas Day, in addition to the days that they're already allowed to. Mr. Speaker, this new policy means that if a local municipality passes a tourist exemption by-law, which is necessary, on-site retail stores will be able to offer tours and sell their products to visiting tourists and local residents on long weekends and holidays. Small businesses in both rural and Ontario and urban communities are the cornerstone of Ontario's economy and we want to make sure that this business processes it. Supplementary. I thank the Attorney General for that answer. It's good to hear that this government supports our small businesses and local wineries and breweries. While an expansion of days open for businesses of welcome change, there is also an issue of operating hours. Currently, on-site retail stores selling alcohol on Sundays are limited to operating hours between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Yet many of these stores are the busiest on the weekend and longer hours could provide retail stores with an opportunity to maximize their business potential. And consumers with greater access to their products. Mr. Speaker, could the Attorney General please inform this House if action has been taken on this issue? Thank you, Attorney General. And action has been taken, Speaker, because in addition to extending the operating days to include all statutory holidays that I mentioned before for on-site winery, brewery and distillery retail stores, they're now able to open between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. all seven days of the week. By making this change, we as a government are succeeding in improving conditions that best encourage the success of small businesses as well as the option for consumers. With on-site retail stores open on more days and longer hours, more winery and brewery and distillery tours will be offered and more made in Ontario products will be sold, which is good for all of us. This is just one way in which we, as a government, Speaker, are making progress in supporting small business and the consumers in Ontario, Speaker. New question? Member from Wellington, Hall of Hills. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And my question is for the Minister of Health. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a rare lethal lung disease. Most people diagnosed with IPF are told that without a double lung transplant they have between two to five years to live. However, there's a new drug available which is giving patients like Barbara Skinner of Georgetown Hope. Esprit appears to slow the progression of the disease and provides patients and their families with valuable time together. Last October, Health Canada approved Esprit for use in Canada. However, it's not covered by OIP currently and I'm told it costs approximately $3,800 a month, a cost most Ontarians without private drug coverage can't afford. I wrote to the Minister and spoke to her about it on April the 11th in this chamber. I know she's aware of it. What is the Minister doing to ensure that all Ontarians who suffer from IPF have access to Esprit? Thank you, Minister. Well, Speaker, thank you to the member for the question and thank you to many members who have written me on this particular issue. I know how important it is that when people have an illness and there is a drug that can help them with that, that we do everything we can to get access to those particular drugs. However, Speaker, there is a process we go through. It is not a political process. It is a process removed from government where an independent panel looks at the drugs, looks at the evidence and gives advice on whether or not certain drugs should be funded. In this particular case, that process is well underway, Speaker. Thank you. Supplementary. Remember from girl. Like my colleague, I have also shared information with you from my constituent, Laurie Fowler, who is the strongest advocate that I have ever met for her mother, Virginia Curry. Minister, you would know, but recently she was diagnosed with IPF, as has been mentioned. Virginia would be an excellent candidate for treatment with aspirin. Minister, your drug review process in Ontario is broken. It does not take into account the life-threatening risk of IPF and the need to take aspirin in the mild to moderate stage, early stages of the disease. Minister, patients simply do not have the time to wait for your bureaucratic review process. In Canada, there are 3,000 deaths per year related to IPF. Esprit, as well as a promising new drug, periphodome, have been approved by Health Canada. Why are you not approving this drug for Ontario patients today? The member opposite knows very well that Health Canada approval does not mean instant approval on our drug benefit plan, Speaker. We do have a process that I have written to these members and others to confirm that this is a drug that both of these drugs are being reviewed by the independent panel. I think it's important, Speaker, that we take our responsibility very seriously when it comes to putting the process in place and putting the funding in place to back up these drugs, Speaker, for particularly for patients with very high drug costs. I am very pleased with the work of the review panel, Speaker. They are doing the very diligence that is required to ensure that the most number of people get access to those drugs that they need, Speaker. Thank you. New question to the member for Nicobelt. My question to the Prime Minister, Sudbury Down, the race track in my writing of Nicobelt, will be racing for the first time this season at 1.30 on Sunday. Should have been a happy day, Mr. Speaker, but they cannot fill their race cards because in part of the limited purse. Yet, they have $2.5 million in their purse pool. Can the Premier guarantee that this money, which was collected in the North, will stay in the North? Well, Mr. Speaker, first of all, it's great news that they're back racing at Sudbury Downs. They're also racing at Fourth of Downs, Dresden, Sampara Downs, Woodbuy, Mohawk, Caddo, there will be no Carlton. Sudbury Downs at Western Fair. We want to thank the panel, the Honourable John Stobland, the Honourable Albert Buchanan, the Honourable John Wilkinson, that are doing an incredible job in restructuring the race industry in the province of Ontario. I tell everybody, take advantage of Saturdays and buttonies at Wednesdays to get out to your local race track. There's wonderful cards. Porse Racing is here to stay in Ontario and this government is supporting and a poor industry in rural Ontario. Let's hear supplementary. Mr. Speaker, that was a very disappointing answer. There is $2.5 million in a purse account in northern Ontario that is at risk of being shipped elsewhere. It looks like this government is trying to run this industry into the ground. The number of race days at Sudbury Downs was 63 last year. We raced twice a year, twice a week this year. We got 20 days. The purses at Sudbury Downs used to be $50,000 a race night. We're now at 30. Yet the cost of feeding, training, caring for those horses is not going down. Will the government change their minds in their wrong-headed way and allow Sudbury Downs enough race days and purse money to maintain this industry the only race track in northern Ontario and sustain the thousands of jobs that it's supporting in Nickel Belt? Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member from Nickel Belt, of course, her great interest in a very important industry to rural Ontario, particularly to Sudbury Downs. And if the member would be so kind after a question period today to provide me with that information, I would certainly take it to the officials in that, Karen Chen, who works within the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, and of course the horse racing panel, the Honourable John Snowblad, the Honourable Albert Buchanan, the Honourable John Wilkinson. I'll take a representation today after a question period and we'll take a look at it, Mr. Speaker. The member from Kanora Rainey River on a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct my record. In my supplementary, I mistakenly said that the Mary Brooklyn CHC occupies 1,700 square feet. It actually should be 7,200, which makes their rent at about $27.70 a square foot. The member has the right to correct her record and that's a point of order, point of order from the Premier. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I just want to remind everyone and encourage them to come out to the farmers market on the the lawn of Queens Park and enjoy some great Ontario food. Speaking of the farmers market, my other brother is here in the Speaker's Gallery and that is the former Speaker of the House, Steve Peters is here. I suspect he's going to be outside eating some good Ontario product as well. There are no deferred votes this house stands recessed until 1 p.m. this afternoon.