 it's now time for question period the leader of Her Majesty's Royal Opposition. Mr. Speaker my question is for the Premier. On September 22nd the Premier of Ontario told Evan Solomon that skyrocketing hydro costs, where and I quote, worth it. Is it worth it that this government forces people to choose between heating and eating? Is it worth it that there's five hundred and sixty seven thousand households that are behind their hydro bills? Mr. Speaker can the Premier tell the families who can't put food on the table that these prices using her words are worth it? Can she say it is worth it for the people that had to sell their homes? Can she really tell the people of Ontario that this mess she has created is worth it? Thank you. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Well what I can say to the leader of the opposition is that it is absolutely imperative that we make sure that people have the supports that they need so that they can pay their electricity bills Mr. Speaker the changes that we the changes that we are making to make sure that there is for example the Ontario Energy Support Program in place Mr. Speaker the removal of the debt retirement charge from the bills Mr. Speaker and the changes that we've made most recently that we announced in the throne speech so the removal of the provincial portion of the HST the additional 12% Mr. Speaker that means that rural and and northern communities have access to 20% reduction Mr. Speaker all of those were an acknowledgement of the fact that the improvements that we've made in the system the fact that we have invested in the system has a cost associated with Mr. Speaker and we understand that we need to help people to to deal with those costs every day. Mr. Speaker back to the Premier I'm bewildered when the Premier talks about improvements because no one in the province of Ontario has seen improvements you know I was recently in Cacabecca Falls in northwestern Ontario and I stopped by a dean of foods I chatted with the owner there and he had a question for the Liberal government that he asked if I could ask the Premier directly as a small business owner in northern Ontario he wanted to know how he's expected to pay his hydro bill and staff with $13,000 as his monthly bill Mr. Speaker are those hydro bills worth it if a business is struggling to meet their payroll this is a question of whether he can continue to actually keep his staff for a local business that is previously successful so Mr. Speaker my question to the Premier is her hydro mess worth it if it means that businesses are going to have to close it's exactly why we are expanding the the ICI program mr. Speaker so that smaller businesses can take advantage of the opportunity to reduce their electricity bills by up to 34% mr. Speaker I know the Minister of Energy is going to want to give them the member opposite some examples of businesses in the next supplementary but mr. Speaker that is precisely why we're expanding that that conservation initiative the industrial conservation initiative I'm receiving signals that we want to continue going down the road that I didn't want to go and I will this will be my last and I don't need your help either so be the last time I have to talk about warnings I'll just introduce them right away expanding that program and mr. Speaker is it worth it to kids who have asthma to have clean air because we shut the coal-fired plants is it worth it to communities that have unreliable energy to now I'm now moving to warnings the member from Prince Edward Hastings warned carry on because we invested in more than 10,000 kilometers of line that they have reliable power yes mr. Speaker it's worth it to have no smog days and to have a system that is 90% clean and has been rebuilt mr. Speaker it's worth it Mr. Speaker again to the Premier what we hear in the government's talking points is reliable power that's their defense for having this extraordinary disaster of an energy policy so let's talk about their defense let's talk about reliable power all you have to do is look next door to Quebec in 2015 Quebec had three power outages that result to be stuck luck the Minister of Housing is warned carry on mr. Speaker Quebec had three power outages that were a result of either faulty equipment or human air Ontario had 32 total outages in Ontario equal the 11 and a half days in Quebec it was only six and a half hours Ontario has had as many outages as BC Manitoba Nova Scotia and Alberta combined we don't have reliable power in the province of Ontario we have the opposite our hydro system is both unaffordable and unreliable answer a direct question to the Premier how how dare you say we have reliable power in the province of Ontario you have created a mess thank you mr. Speaker I'm very pleased to rise and answer the leader of opposition's question because perhaps the leader of the opposition should not be so quick to choose who he compares our province to mr. Speaker he claims that Quebec hardly experienced an outage at all last year but just two nights ago 150,000 residents of Gattano lost their power during rush hour the outage was triggered by a substation transmission failure mr. Speaker it seems like that Ontario and Quebec are not immune to an occasional unforeseen events and luckily we have the hard-working power workers unions that work in both of our province to quickly remedy these outages mr. Speaker but I know the opposition's have begun to make these truly bizarre claims about dump trucks hitting holes and and weather with you know knocking down wires mr. Speaker I'd like to hear the plan from the leader of the opposition how we can control car accidents in the weather mr. Speaker because he has no plan for anything else you must have a plan for that order please you're on W by the way new question leader of the opposition mr. Speaker my question is for the Premier the Premier's Minister of Energy said yesterday that this government has been tasked with finding ways to bring bills down the minister said he is going to save families $2.45 by canceling the next round of renewable contracts but in fact he is not saving them a cent he's just not going to raise prices the definition of a saving is a reduction no one is saving anything did I save $25,000 this morning by not going out and buying a car that's not how savings work the government's logic is completely faulty mr. Speaker will the Premier come clean will she admit that this latest PR stunt won't save families a stunt a sense electricity system that had been badly neglected under the previous government mr. Speaker families and businesses across Ontario couldn't count on the electricity system mr. Speaker it was dirty mr. Speaker shut down the coal fired plants it is 90% clean renewable energy now mr. Speaker so by the elimination of coal mr. Speaker we've avoided about four billion dollars in health care and related costs so mr. Speaker I think that kind of savings that is direct savings to the the people of the province so mr. Speaker we have made we've put in place initiatives to help people to deal with their bills mr. Speaker whether it's the Ontario energy support program whether it's the removal of the provincial portion of the HST whether it's the removal of the debt retirement charge mr. Speaker all of those are initiatives that will help people and businesses to deal with their bills we're further moving mr. Speaker to take costs out of the system that will mean that there will be future cost avoidance thank you supplementary mr. Speaker back to the Premier and don't get me wrong mr. Speaker I do applaud the government for finally realizing these renewable contracts that they signed were reckless and not in the best interest of Ontario but the question mr. Speaker is why did it take so long for this government to realize it is it because they milked 30 of these renewable energy companies for over 1.3 million dollars in donations to the Ontario Liberal Party it is clear these contracts were never what was in the best interest of Ontario it was all about what's in the best interest of liberal coffers so my question mr. Speaker is now that the Premier has acknowledged these renewable contracts for energy we we couldn't use had to give away to Pennsylvania New York and Michigan now that she's acknowledged that was a mistake will the Premier consider apologizing to the people of Ontario and giving back the 1.3 million dollars they took from these companies and helping families there with their hydro bills thank you mr. Speaker I find it reckless mr. Speaker that we have a party talking about energy with no plan I want you to think mr. Speaker just a few years ago we had to send warnings out to let people know that if they went outside they would have difficulty breathing mr. Speaker breathing mr. Speaker the simple act of breathing it was difficult but we've got a party on the other side that doesn't want to invest in that they left a crumbling system mr. Speaker for us to pick up the 2013 long-term energy plan had forecasted some costs mr. Speaker and we made sure that we're removing those costs they may ridicule two dollars and forty five cents for families that is important and I will find fifty cents or fifty dollars mr. Speaker to make sure that we continue to help families not just sit there and make up mistakes mr. Speaker final supplementary mr. Speaker I'm gonna ask the Premier again this question I hope this time I can get an answer not passing the buck the reality is the government has acknowledged has acknowledged that these contracts were reckless and unnecessary the government has admitted that mistake so my question is given the fact that government has received the Liberal Party has received 1.3 million dollars in donations because of these contracts that were a mistake and also given the fact the Auditor General has said that we are going to overpay by hear this 9.2 billion dollars because of these contracts that government has now acknowledged was a mistake 9.2 billion dollars Ontario is going to overpay Liberal Party gets 1.3 million dollars my direct question to the Premier and I hope she will answer it will she apologize to people of Ontario for taking 1.3 million dollars to the Ontario Liberal Party and causing Ontario to overpay on hydro by 9.2 minister thank you mr. Speaker in terms of her energy our government is very proud of the electricity mix that we have in this province 18,000 megawatts of renewable content renewables contracted or online Ontario ranks first in Canada for installed wind capacity more than 40 percent win mr. Speaker but we're talking about fundraising mr. Order I just remind everybody the warnings are still on the table if you get a warning the next one's out and I'm still standing so therefore some people making comments on the government side is not helpful when I'm asking them to come to order so everyone come to order finish please thank you mr. Speaker I hope I have enough time to rhyme off the long list of the events that the leader of the opposition has done in fundraising off their last little bio at the Albany Club 10,000 dollars per person guests with the PC health critic and that's $500 at the Metro Toronto Convention Center start the clock new question deputy leader of the third party my question is to the premier for three days new Democrats have asked a very simple question and have yet to receive a clear answer is the premier planning on helping the sale of Toronto hydro yes or no if the member opposite wants to speak about Toronto hydro he will have to speak to the mayor of Toronto and the Council's on the City of Toronto City of Toronto Council thank you supplementary thank you very much mr. Speaker just over two years ago our leader and your Horvath asked the premier about the sell-off of hydro one now the premier said and I quote it must actually be very hard for the leader of the third party to ask these questions she knows that we're not selling off these assets and quote well of course and terrians all know that all the while the premier was in fact working on the sell-off of hydro one so now it's very understandable that people are concerned with the next moves the premier is leaving the door wide open to selling off municipal hydro utilities and people are worried that yet again the premier is not telling people what's actually going to happen so does the premier understand how people are worried that she's planning to help the sale of more of our hydro system minister of infrastructures warrant premier let me just repeat mr. Speaker that if the member opposite wants to speak about the City of Toronto or other municipalities mr. Speaker he's going to have to talk to the elected officials in those in those communities mr. Speaker that's the way it works mr. Speaker we all know and the premier ought to know that the province has a large role in this and they can actually assist or not assist in the sale of local utilities so new Democrats are again asking a very simple question is the premier hoping to distract from her decision to sell off hydro one by helping to privatize local utilities like Toronto hydro have made decisions like this they have done that on their own mr. Speaker and if the member opposite wants to talk with the municipality about about their their decisions around electricity they'll have to go to their mayors their councils and have that conversation thank you my question again is the premier mr. Speaker it's deja vu all over again in Ontario in October 2014 people wanted to know if the Liberals were going to privatize hydro one after all it was privatizing hydro one that something that they didn't ran on it wasn't something that they mentioned in their campaign but the government wouldn't give a straight answer fast forward to today and on here and saw a thrown speech that didn't say a word about the liberal provincial government assisting local utilities and privatizing and now liberal insiders are saying that selling Toronto hydro is quote a good idea and Queen's Park is interested in helping make it happen and quote and just like in 2014 the premier is dodging this very simple question will the premier be honest question people of Ontario are the Liberals planning to privatize more local utilities yes or no to the member opposite I'm being very honest with him and with this legislature and the people of Ontario those decisions are decisions that local councils have to make as has happened in other parts of the province where local councils have made decisions around their distribution companies mr. Speaker the the local communities are going to need to make those decisions mr. Speaker if the member opposite wants to talk about the building of transit and transportation infrastructure in the province mr. Speaker and how there is a build going on across the province whether it's roads and roads and bridges or whether it's transit all across all across our urban centers I'm happy to talk about that mr. Speaker because we know how important it is that we make those investments that we create those jobs in the immediate term and and foster the economic development going forward if the member opposite wants to talk about that I'm happy to talk about that so thank you thank you mr. Speaker local municipalities will certainly make decisions but those decisions will be influenced if they know that the provincial government wants to assist them in privatizing those utilities so that's why the question is here two years ago the premier denied that she was privatizing hydro one today the premier isn't denying that she's planning to help the municipalities sell local hydro utilities Ontarians are worried they've been let down by the Liberals before and they're worried they're going to be let down yet again will the premier just clear the air once and for all until Ontarians is she going to help privatize municipal hydro utilities like Toronto Hydra and the many others around this problem thank you mr. Speaker and I'm very honored to be able to stand and answer the the members question when it comes to relating to Toronto Hydro that is totally a decision for Toronto City Council and I know the other member is contemplating running for other offices so he's interested he may want to consider running for Toronto City Council and it can be part of that decision but until that time but until that time mr. Speaker let's talk about Hydra one every dollar realized from our current assets will be reinvested in Ontario's infrastructure mr. Speaker and this sale will support the single large infrastructure investment in Ontario's history mr. Speaker and I was very proud to be able to announce in North Bay in Cappas Gasing in my own riding of Sudbury mr. Speaker twenty million dollars for infrastructure investments that are truly needed by many of these municipalities mr. Speaker and I'm looking forward to making more of those announcements thank you very much mr. Speaker yesterday's FAO report showed that Ontario is on the brink particularly low-income people people in northern and rural Ontario are paying more and more for energy people will be pushed over the edge with the further privatization of Hydra one privatizing local municipal Hydro utilities will only make it worse these are real people who can't pay their bills over more than half a million ontarians are in arrears will the previous start listening to the people of this promise a province take action and commit to no more sell-off of our public assets and public hydro utilities thank you mr. Speaker and I thank the member for the question because it's another opportunity for me to be able to stand up and say you know what we've also heard that from the FAO but we've heard it from the people of Ontario and that's why we acted mr. Speaker we brought forward our three-point plan with a specific piece in there for 20% for northerners and rural folks to make sure that they can get that 20% reduction on the bill mr. Speaker the unfortunate thing is when we tried to get this bill passed quickly because we still have a lot of work to do to make sure that we can get the LDCs in place the opposition voted against our unanimous consent to make sure that we can get this through quickly mr. Speaker and speaking of the FAO sure the FAO confirmed that the average Ontario household spends less on electricity than every other province except BC but we still know mr. Speaker that some families are having difficulty that's why we brought this program forward that's why we have six other programs in place the OESP program the LEAP program mr. Speaker we have so many I don't have enough time to run them all off thank you very much thank you very much mr. Speaker my question is the Minister of Health and long-term care speaker every day we read about the opioid crisis and how it is killing someone in Ontario every 14 hours western provinces have already created a system to track these overdoses in for finding real-time data for the fentanyl crisis they utilize the data to deal with this drug crisis however Ontario is unable to track in real-time and the data they are using currently is from 2014 speaker when will the minister put in place a system to track the overdoses and deal with the opioid crisis that's killing Ontarians every day thank you mr. Speaker I appreciate the question and the fact is that Ontario does have an automated real-time system existing in I think 118 hospitals across the province and we're actually expanding that to include all the hospitals which based on triage provides us in real time automatically to the ministry and to public health officers if they want to access that data all data on overdoses including overdoses that are due specifically to opioids mr. Speaker now when it comes to opioid deaths or overdosed deaths it is slightly more complicated and I'm happy to address that in the supplementary but I want to reassure Ontarians that in fact we didn't need to take the measure that BC did because we already had in place an automated real-time process through triage at hospital ERs that provides the ministry immediately with that data with regards to overdoses in the majority of hospitals in this province thank you supplement your back to the minister of speaker it's interesting that the premier contradicted the minister's claims when speaking that global news is Alan Carter she said that Ontario does not have the data the minister claims to have and they should actually appoint someone to look into the problem speaker even the minute the premier doesn't believe the minister's claims health professionals and law enforcement need the tools to deal with the fentanyl crisis when will the government get its act together and come up with a plan to deal with this opioid crisis well I was standing about two feet away from the premier when she did address this with Alan Carter and that certainly isn't my recollection of what she did say but when it comes to overdose deaths it is important that that Ontarians understand that there is a process in place that those deaths those which are suspected as well of being the result of of a narcotic overdose they have to be referred to the corner of Ontario and the corner is required or has the opportunity if he feels that it's merited to actually undertake a death investigation I hope the member appreciates that there is a time required to undertake that death investigation to determine in fact that that overdose is due to a narcotic overdose Mr. Speaker and to the specific type of narcotic whether it's opioid or other so that process does take a little bit longer answer however we are working with the corner and many others I hope to have more to say shortly on this in terms of further improving the system that's in place thank you thank you speaker speaker my question to the premier speaker we expect the conservatives to attack renewable energy it's not what people expect from the liberals and they have every reason to be disappointed bills aren't increasing because energy is renewable at heart it's because we're privatizing the energy system but instead of fixing the problem instead of admitting that they've made a mess because of privatization the liberals are turning their backs on renewable energy why are the liberals abandoning renewable energy and defending privatized energy thank you mr. Speaker and I'm very quite pleased to rise and answer the question from the honorable member it's very important to continue to emphasize that we have 18,000 megawatts of renewables already contracted or online mr. Speaker as I mentioned we ranked first in Canada when it comes to installed wind capacity of more than 40% of all wind and all existing clean energy contracts will be honored mr. Speaker and since 2003 with green energy has invested billions of dollars from private sector investments creating over 42,000 jobs mr. Speaker but let's not let's not forget mr. Speaker that 90% 90% of our electricity system is emissions free mr. Speaker and we haven't stopped yet mr. Speaker we still have the fit program we still microfit program and we're bringing forward net metering to continue with renewables in this province mr. Speaker job Speaker I'm not surprised the Premier doesn't want to answer this question because her approach is directly contrary to the way she represents herself to the people of this province the core reason that hydro bills keep going up is privatization but in stop instead of stopping the sell-off of hydro one or shutting down the process of helping local distribution companies sell off their utilities instead of focusing on ensuring that renewable energy is publicly owned and affordable the government is abandoning renewables can the Premier explain why she's defending privatization and abandoning renewable power thank you mr. Speaker now no one's abandoning anything mr. Speaker we're actually continuing to invest in more and so I think the important thing for us to say mr. Speaker is we're committed to renewable energy and we built a strong track record that demonstrates many of our successes mr. Speaker as I said before and I'll continue to say it's something we should all be proud of in this province 90% emission free 90% emission free is our electricity system generated by diverse supply of generation sources including wind solar nuclear hydro electricity mr. Speaker I got to go up and see the lower metogamy 450 megawatts of power coming from from hydro electricity mr. Speaker renewables are an important element of our government's plan to close all of our coal plants mr. Speaker we are the first jurisdiction in North America and to make sure that we do not have any coal-fired electricity generation mr. Speaker making it helpful for everyone in this province the member from fictional center thank you mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of research innovation and science minister i understand that you recently were at princess margaret hospital to announce a new round of funding for the ontario research fund support for the sector is creating tangible benefits for the people of ontario we're seeing this every day in hospitals right across the province some of these breakthroughs have the added benefit of creating more effective and more efficient treatment options so that the money that we are saving can be reinvested into research for lifesaving advancements minister i know that people in my writing of kitchener center where we are an innovation leader they want to know that we're continuing to introduce cutting edge medical procedures which are putting us at the forefront of medical research in north america speaker could the question please tell us some recent advancements that were made possible through the ontario research fund thank you minister thank you mr. Speaker i want to thank the member from kitchener center for her advocacy for research and innovation across the province of ontario i recently was speaking at the pleasure of attending princess margaret hospital to award a total of 51 million dollars to support world-class studies and the research talent at the leading institutions across our province of ontario thanks to the funding of this government provides for medical research our scientists are always on the brink of new and exciting advancements for example ontario research fund mrs. Speaker helped scientists at sunnybrook hospital develop high-intensity ultrasound technology that can be used in the treatment of uterine fibroids fibroids this discovery will save ontario hospitals 35 million dollars annually other discoveries made through the same program have helped scientists discover that and so tumors can also be treated using high-intensity ultrasounds mrs. Speaker i am pleased to report that last year sunnybrook scientists were able to breach thank you the blood brain barrier and deliver thank you supplementary thank you mr. Speaker and i want to thank the minister for his answer minister investing in research excellence and supporting the people who are driving our innovative economy is key to developing medical technology that is saving lives and making our health care system more efficient and in my community i know it's providing hundreds of jobs we know that this part is much bigger though there's a bigger plan to bring health benefits to the people of ontario and position us as a continued economic leader the difference between thriving and merely surviving in this very competitive global economy is the priority that we're placing on medical and scientific research minister could you please share with the members of this house some of the recent examples that demonstrate advances as a result of investing in the ontario research fund thank you minister thank you mr. Speaker again thank you for the member from kitchen incentive for the question mr. Speaker our government is dedicated to making sure that ontario is a global leader in medical sciences our investments into the ontario research fund have recently yielded significant advances for example at the Ottawa hospital dr. Duncan steward discovered that the stem cells are able to treat septic shock a condition with a high fatality rate mr. Speaker investments into the ontario research fund also helped dr. Michael discovered that usually muscular dystrophy is a disease that affects the stem cells not muscle fibers this breakthrough discovery mr. Speaker will help us save people who suffer from debilitating disease mr. Speaker investments into the ontario research fund have tangible benefits ontarians and that is why our government under the premier catlin win will continue to invest in this one thank you mr. Thank you mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of health and long-term care. Speaker Sarah Patterson and Jordan Yolkowski love their eight month old daughter Everly and they want her home. Everly needs 24-hour care but doctors at the children's hospital of eastern ontario supported her coming home but the southeast community care access center is missing in action for four weeks they've delayed funding forcing Sarah and Jordan to pay $300 a day for care now over $10,000 and counting Monday the ccac presented a woefully inadequate plan and shockingly said take it or leave it these parents won't sign it and I support them standing up for this heartless action it will cost 10 times more to care for Everly at Chille and it will tear this family apart baby everly belongs at home speaker will the minister join me and tell the ccac to do its job and keeper there thank you mr. Speaker I can't imagine what the parents of this tiny baby are going through right now I am familiar with the situation and I certainly do commit to doing what I can to ensure that that family and that young child is able to get the resources that that she needs to support her in her young life but we have made and we are making important changes that do enable this kind of flexibility and this kind of support where we've we've eliminated the nursing maximums that are able to be provided through home and community care through our ccac's for those most complex patients patients mr. Speaker we recently announced more than a million additional hours of PSW support services and sir through our ccac's and other changes that we're making to hopefully be able to provide this kind of flexibility and assistance and I certainly commit to working with the member opposite thank you supplementary back back to the minister the government and the ccac self-managed care model forces families to set up a small business they must get wsib two million dollars in liability insurance pay taxes on the funding even hire an accountant it's ridiculous but every parent's they'll jump through the hoops they just want in sarah's words something that's fair and manageable so we can live life they're surviving now but only because of incredible community support and that's what ontario's health care system has come to families relying on bake sales and coin cans at gas stations sarah and jordan are exhausted and they're running out of money and the ccac it couldn't be doing less so you know what i'm just going to ask the minister please pick up our student and call the ccac tell them to get their act together well mr. Speaker i have no doubt that my the ministry officials are working with the ccac with chio as well i hope the member can appreciate that there are a small number of highly complex cases across the province this i think he would agree is one of them we need we need to make sure that we're doing everything we can to provide the appropriate health care and medical support to individuals but i do you know i i wish the individual i wish that rather the member opposite had to come to me specifically to enlist my support it's unfortunate he has to raise it in this context we are working on this case and i commit to the family that we will do everything possible thank you for the question speaker people in my community of london continue to experience higher rates of unemployment than elsewhere in the province and for londoners who do have jobs many still struggle to make ends meet their hydro bills are too high they can't afford child care and even people who finish college or university years ago are struggling with student debt speaker the city of london had a great idea to become a living wage city $15 an hour it's about doing better so that more people can have hope and opportunities will the premier follow london and alberta's lead and increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour minister of labor minister of labor thank you speaker and thank you to the member for this question speaker when you look at examples around the around all of north america of how governments have treated this issue speaker i think we should be especially proud of what we've been able to do in the province of ontario to bring in a system that's predictable that's stable it was it was given to us on the advice of poverty advocates of people from organized labor people from the business community i think uh i think we've become an example of how it's done speaker what we've done is we're about halfway through a five-year period before we take another look at it speaker we've got one of the highest minimum wages in the country business knows when it's coming in they can plan for it and those people that are working at the minimum wage level speaker know that they're going to get a protectable wage increase from time to time speaker every year actually not the submission to the committee thank you something like that speaker london has read this week that one of our own local employers pledged to increase his employees wages to $15 and it literally changed her life living on minimum wage is a reality for twice as many ontarians now as when this government came to power ontarians deserve good jobs they should be able to build a life and the minimum wage is an important start will the premier commit today to raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour thank you speaker and thanks uh thanks to the member for the supplementary speak you have to go back to a time between 1996 and 2003 ontario didn't increase its minimum wage we've got to be kidding people who are working that level simply saw no no uh no increases at that time we know who was in power then speaker what we did is we obligated as a government to look at this in an organized way speaker in a way that was predictable in a way that was stable and we came up with a system that i think speaker other provinces other states are looking at um around the world speaker i think it's a it's a predictable way of doing things but it also as i said earlier allows for every five years you take a review so what has that led to people at the minimum wage level the province of ontario speaker have earned more than any other jurisdiction in this country over the past few years they'll continue to get regular increases and speaker i bring this up once again when the opportunity was there to provide advice speaker the ngp made not one single submission to that group thank you this question is for the minister of indigenous relations and reconciliation i understand that next summer ontario will host the 2017 north american indigenous games right here in toronto come up to 10 000 indigenous people from all across north america to the traditional territories of the mississaugas of the new credit first nation the uran wenda nation the six nations of the grand river and the matey nation of ontario the games sound like a wonderful opportunity to highlight the accomplishment accomplishments of indigenous athletes especially those from ontario can the minister tell us how our government is supporting the 2017 north american indigenous games thank you for the indigenous relations and reconciliation but i want to thank the member for berry for that question yes next summer we are prepared to welcome over 5 000 indigenous athletes to ontario to compete in 14 different sports this is the first time that ontario has hosted the games to bring the games to ontario our government is investing three and a half million dollars over three years to support the aboriginal sports and wellness council finish please a few weeks ago i was in hamilton for the announcement of a major partnership between the city of hamilton and macmaster university adversity to support these games through a new western hub i was also at a similar event at york university in the city of toronto earlier this year i am confident that the 2017 north american indigenous games here in ontario will be the best game supplement i'm excited to hear that our government is supporting this great initiative to showcase indigenous sport and bring the games to ontario this is also a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of the exceptional sports sports facilities infrastructure and programs that are a lasting legacy of the 2015 pan am parapan am games we know that sport is empowering for both indigenous and non-indigenous youth and that participation in sport gives them self-confidence resiliency and generates pride can the minister tell us how our investments in the 2017 north american indigenous games will benefit indigenous youth and athletes in ontario thank you minister thank you speaker and again i thank the member for her berry for her interest in these games our investment in the games will support the development of indigenous athletes coaches and mentors it will build a brighter future for indigenous youth in ontario you know sport has the power to heal and to improve the quality of life for indigenous youth it encourages emotional spiritual and physical strength that's why five of the recommendations in the truth and reconciliation report involves sport including support for these games for young people sport has the power to heal to improve the quality of their life it encourages emotional physical growth confidence and ambition we are looking forward to all of the broad benefits that these games can bring to ontario and to indigenous peoples thank you your question the members from first grade thank you very much my question is the minister of health long-term care i'm hearing firsthand accounts from personal support workers but the precarious working and living conditions at some long-term care homes such as on how in some shifts one psw is expected to look after 30 or 40 frail and sick residents and impossible if not dangerous past as interior is facing a double demand for personal support workers there can be no greater priority than improving our psw workforce so that our seniors can enjoy safety and comfort and the care they receive knowing this mr speaker why has this minister not prioritized providing that job stability and consistency to ontario's 100 000 personal support workers thank you minister from care well mr speaker i would disagree we're doing a great deal for our psw's across the province in fact we were the government that instituted implemented a minimum wage for psw's where we've also increased the hourly support to our psw's that funds that flow directly through the lens down to directly to the psw's of $4 increase over the past several years of $4 an hour increase to the wages that they are receiving we're also working with our psw's on a long-term strategy to not only elevate the profession of these essential health care workers working so hard and diligently and compassionately in our health care system throughout including in our long-term cares homes but we're working with them we've developed a standardized curriculum which is now in place mr speaker we're working with them in terms of issues of regulation and professional uh abilities to make sure that our psw's are able to practice to the full scope of their ability thank you supplementary thank you mr speaker back to minister of health long-term care mr speaker the minister has to take responsibility for the continued lack of standardized training and regulation of psw's in ontario instead of looking to the leadership of other provinces like novus scoshan bc who managed to put the safeguards in place and to find their psw's standards this government wasted 13 years and squandered five million dollars on a defunct psw registry i say minister the ball is in your court when will you give the psw's a plan they so desperately need so they can do their job thank you mr bill well mr speaker so we are developing those standards we do have a standardized curriculum before psw's mr speaker we're responding to what we're hearing from psw's the associations that represent them organized labor that represents them as well and we're working very very hard to make sure that we're putting in place guided by them and their good advice the measures the supports the training the financial support to enable them in fact we're providing many of them with financial support to upgrade their training mr speaker so there are a whole set of issues and regulation is certainly one of them that we're engaging the sector very vigorously to determine how on a go-forward basis we can continue to respect and acknowledge improve the delivery of services that our psw's offer but mr speaker mr speaker that that work will never be complete but i think that we have to acknowledge that there have been important gains made for this this important sector within health care and we will continue to make further question thank you mr speaker my question is also for the minister of health and long-term care the troops said personal support workers are getting the pay hike that they were promised but the Ontario personal support worker association representing 21 000 member says that is quote incorrect and misleading in fact according to the toronto star thousands of psw the member cannot do indirectly what she cannot do directly you will withdraw i withdraw please finish your question the toronto star says that thousands of psw's have seen their weekly income go down can the minister tell us exactly how many psw's have seen their paycheck go down and if not why not thank you minister of health long-term care thank you mr speaker it's ironic because both of the opposition parties voted against the increase in wage for our psw's what has amounted to we're hearing we're hearing the heckling from them now but the reality is it was this side of the house that implemented a four dollar an hour increase to our psw they deserve that increase we provided it to them you did not and so so so we are working with your psw's and that is funds that flow through directly and all the way down to the psw's in terms of increases we're also working with all of our health care providers in the home and community sector mr speaker to standardize the contracts so that we will be ensuring even more that the supports are there for our psw's if we look in home if we look in long-term care as well as we've added 2,500 more psw's in long-term care homes since 2008 we're working with the sector we're taking their case we're making great progress mr speaker supplementary the question was how many psw's saw their paycheck go down i can tell you speaker that it is thousands of them that have seen their weekly income fall not rise they are seeing the times with their clients being cut sometimes down to 15 minutes people are getting less home care speaker not more and it's not just me saying this we're hearing it from the psw on the front line we're hearing it from the Ontario personal support worker association as well as being reported in the toronto star the auto with citizens and other papers when will this government step up stop cutting the hours of care that families need and make sure that every psw sees the full increases that were promised to them for every hour that they were thank you mr speaker here's what we're hearing from psw's across the country that they appreciate the wage increase and they appreciate the attention that the liberal government has been providing to them in the complete absence of any leadership i should add from either of the opposition parties finish please so many psw's have said to me that they have never experienced a government that has acknowledged the importance of their contribution to the health care sector in this province ever not the ndp not the conservatives that both voted against any wage increase for psw's it is shameful mr speaker and they stand up now talking about those that perhaps may be affected by this policy she doesn't talk about the tens of thousands of psw's who have moved into a position where they can actually earn a wage which is worthy and responsive to the talent that they bring every single day thank you thank you start the clock new question member from dabbinport hey speaker and my question is for the minister of government and consumer services speaker when i travel throughout my riding whether it's in the north in the south i see many new condo developments actually there are many new condo developments across the entire city many of my constituents live in condos and that number continues to grow as developments are built in my riding speaker my dabbinport office has regularly asked about what our government is doing to protect condo owners a question that is not only important to condo owners in dabbinport but to all condo owners across ontario speaker currently there are 1.6 million people or 1 in 10 ontarians that are living in condos just last year many of my constituents were pleased to see that new legislation was passed providing greater protections for condo owners in ontario can the minister please inform the house on how the protecting on here protecting condo owners act is modernizing condo law in our province okay minister of government and consumer services thank you and i want to say thank you to the member from dabbinport for her question but mainly for advocacy on condo laws congratulations our government is committed to modernizing our condo laws we are doing so by ensuring that the condo industry will become more transparent and accountable my ministry is establishing a condo authority that will provide owners and boards with quicker lower costs and less stressful dispute resolution the act will also strain financial management rules for condo corporations to help prevent mismanagement we will also establish a second authority that will license condo managers to help provide further protections to owners and their homes mr speaker i'm very confident that condo owners will have greater peace of mind knowing that they are protected after making such a large investment thank you supplementary to for your response i'm very appreciative of your ministry's efforts to protect consumers in dabbinport and across this province the minister mentioned the creation of two new delegated administrative authorities one of these authorities will protect condo owners and boards with a modern and efficient dispute resolution system the other will license condo managers and ensure their ability to effectively manage these organizations can the minister speak to the creation of these new delegated administrative authorities and how they ensure greater accountability and transparency within the industry thank you minister thank you again for the member of dabbinport for her questions the creation of those two delegated administrative authorities will prove to be crucial in establishing greater accountability in the condo sector these authorities will be self-funded non-for-profit corporation that collects fees from their regulated industries combining these transparency measures and increasing owners access to dispute resolution condo owners will develop positive and mutually respectful relationship with their boards mr speaker our government is taking concrete step to ensure that the condo industry is fair to owners and all those involved thank you new question the member from kitchen yeah thank you speaker a question to the premier premier when i asked the transport minister this spring about significant delays in lr v delivery for the eglinton cross town in the war do ion was of course brushed off since then it's become clear this government has completely dropped the ball on vital lrt projects leaving commuters waiting for the train there were indications last year that bombardier was struggling to deliver on the metro links contract for 182 lr v's followed by a series of warning flags government failed to heed today we learned the premier's finally opened her eyes to alternatives allowing competitors for the finch west lrt to include vehicle procurement in their bids vehicles that were to be delivered by bombardier war lose lrt launches only a year away and now we have an 11th hour bid opening to replace trains that we've already paid for will the premier tell us why she's failed her 770 million dollar train deal will actually put trains on the tracks they're boondocks economic development growth well thank you mr speaker i'm pleased to respond to this on behalf of the minister of transportation i can tell you that the it's it's not the premier or it's not the government that makes these decisions it's metro links and it's part of their their processes they go through and procure this this work so so we respect their process we respect what they're doing at the same time we recognize that bombardier is a company that employs thousands of ontarians here in this province bombardier is a company as well that is done very well by this province and done very well by this country it competes globally it's a global company it's one that has had challenges of late but mr speaker we're quite confident they'll continue to resolve those challenges and continue to be a globally competitive company in the future i would think that the member opposite would want to not want to down downgrade the the importance of bombardier in our economy answer at the same time we respect what metro links is doing and the process they're going through to ensure they get best value for the people this province thank you back to the premier it's important that the government this government provides critical oversight for such a large infrastructure project here in the province in fact it was the liberal government that negotiated the terms and now delays are running right through the entire 770 million dollar 182 car deal the testing vehicle for the agleton crosstown light rail line was supposed to arrive back in 2014 then it was spring of 2015 and today we wonder if it's ever coming in waterloo there's growing concern that when the operator grand link is ready to launch and meet its contractual obligations there will be no trains on the track speaker once the track is laid the clock soon starts ticking on contracted operational costs what commitment can the premier provide to ensure that waterloo residents who've already paid 92 million through the metro links contract won't also be paying for a train service with no trains on the station stretch to granted this minister well mr. speaker i mean let me respond to that by comparing our commitment to the commitment of the party opposite we are committed to building public transit we're making the challenging decisions including broadening the ownership of 5.1 to invest in these very important projects your leader and your party are nowhere when it comes to infrastructure investments you're running and hiding on the opportunity to create more revenues to put into infrastructure we're investing a hundred and sixty billion dollars over the next 12 years in infrastructure with absolutely no support from your party whatsoever so everything we're doing mr. speaker we're doing because of the important decisions that we're making we would like a little support from the members opposite rather than trying to criticize every little detail along the way too late new question the member from alba manitou thank you mr. speaker good morning to you my question is to the premier people are worried about whether there will be a future for the next generation in northern Ontario the ring of fire can create good jobs and good lives for people in northern Ontario the throne speech once again had nothing but a brief mention about the ring of fire development even though the canadian chamber of commerce has asked that it be declared a national priority people in northern Ontario have been let down over and over again by this wing liberal government they are struggling to pay their hydro bills deserve the paying jobs and and not more promises when will this government act and develop the ring of fire speaker thank you very much and i'm pleased to answer the question from the member on this particular topic in in with the minister of northern development minds on behalf of the minister of northern development minds the the member references in his words the lack of a reference to this particular project in the throne speech speaker well what i can say back to the members that i remember very clearly the commitments that were made in the 2014 election platform around the ring of fire and the one billion dollars that we have attached to the for this particular project when it begins to move forward you know what i remember is when the leaders debate was in thunderbay and your leader was there on the day of the debate there was not anything in your platform when it came to committing to the ring of fire in northern Ontario but the day after the debate or somewhere around that at that time she finally saw the light and decided well we need to do what we can and so an unidentified number was attached i think the language answer leader was well whatever we need we'll do whatever we need really clearly something that the europe party had not thought about a very clear commitment from our government having a fire one billion dollars thank you once again mr speaker last year the auditor general said that in six years the handpicked ring of fire secretary had spent 13 million dollars and nothing to show your minister's mandate letter premier letter says that work on roads and infrastructure in the region to connect with the future ring of fire development would start in 2018 so northerners won't even see a ring of fire for a decade or more when will this government have the once in a lifetime ring of fire development shovel ready thank you speaker you know i i know that uh the member opposite represents a northern community in a northern riding in thunderbay or in in his riding in northern ontario and i would expect that in his questions and in his knowledge of this particular issue he would at least attach some importance and make some reference to the significant amount of work that's gone on by the minister and the government in terms of working with our first nation partners in terms of the ability to advance this project but on a number of occasions as the critic for northern development and minds and on this file he has stood in this place and asked these questions as if that is not a significant component about or regarding to what has to occur before the project can go forward speaker we know that that is significant you know the minister has done a lot of work in that particular regard and i would like to say to the member once again it would be nice if your leader would actually stake out a position and make a commitment on this in terms of what dollars she would attach if she had the opportunity to lead the province to the ring of fire in northern ontario reminder that um you'll always refer your questions and your answers to the chair when you start getting into a cross to be uh it's it's uh more confrontational and i appreciate that so i'm going to recognize the member from paris samskoka on a point of order mr. Speaker i want to welcome the mayor of canora dave canfield is in the east members gallery and christin oliver the executive director of northwestern ontario municipal association the minister of tourism culture and support on a point of order thank you speaker uh they've unfortunately left the chamber speaker but i do want to welcome from my riding of berlington teacher judith jenis six teachers uh from ontario and from my community along with students from the netherlands 42 students and all speaker from apple door in our twin city in the netherlands here visiting the ontario legislature as part of a twin city youth exchange thank you speaker welcome to the park we have a deferred vote on the motion for allocation of time on bill 13 calling the members this will be a five minute bell would all members please take their seats all members on tuesday september 27th 2016 mr. knack v move government notice of motion number one all those in favor of the motion please rise one at a time be recognized by the court mr. bradley mr bradley miss sandals is sandals mr susan mr susan is win mr huskies mr huskies mr shirelli mr shirelli mr dugud mr dugud mr mccharls mr mc mc mc mc mc mr mc mc mc mc mc mr tukar mr tukar mr kohl mr kohl mr barren netting mr barren netting mr delaney mr delaney mr russian mr murray mr chan mr morridhi mr kotel mr kotel mr hunter mr huntr mr leal mr fleer mr flinj mr timbo mr timbo mr tighten dr is having mr quadrice mr quard3 mr dixon mr dixon is manga mr manga mr cra människor All those opposed please rise one at a time and be recognized by the court. Mr. Wilson. Mr. Hardiman. Mr. Hardiman. Mr. Hardiman. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. defer votes. This house stands recess until 3 p.m. this afternoon.