 It is now time for oral questions. I'm pleased to recognize her leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thanks very much, Speaker. Thanks so much. My first question this morning is for the Premier. Speaker, our healthcare heroes, our small businesses who are trying to stay afloat, parents who are trying to drop their kids off at school continue to have to walk a gauntlet of hateful anti-vaxxer harassment. My question to the Premier is simple. Will he stop saying no and pass safety legislation, safety zone legislation today to protect them? To reply, the Solicitor General. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you for the member's question opposite. You know, I think we all appreciate and understand that we are disappointed when people choose to protest in front of our healthcare facilities. But to be clear, that is not happening a lot in the province of Ontario. And currently in the province of Ontario, police have the ability to intervene when appropriate. And those instances include, of course, harassment and intimidation. So I'm watching this very closely to make sure that we don't have situations where healthcare workers and individuals who are accessing our healthcare system being put at risk because of protestors. But right now in the province of Ontario, currently there are opportunities and abilities for the police to intervene when appropriate. Thank you. And the supplementary question. Thanks, Speaker. The Premier has been dragged kicking and screaming to, for example, call in the military to help in long-term care. He was dragged kicking and screaming to implement a vaccine certificate. He is now not doing what he should be doing when it comes to safety zone legislation. And we watched as he was dragged kicking and screaming to agree to rapid testing in hotspots and schools after, several weeks after schools were already back. My question again is to the Premier, will he finally take decisive action? Stop saying no, do the right thing and pass safety zone legislation today. Thank you. I think it's important for the member opposite and others in the Assembly to appreciate and understand what tools already we have in the province of Ontario and the police have. So under the Criminal Code, police officers have an extensive number of tools in their authority. Some examples include mischief, interruption of lawful use of enjoyment of property, trespass, breach of the peace, assault, criminal negligence and causing a disturbance. I know that when we see individuals protesting, we want them to come here to Queens Park, here to the legislature. But it's also important to understand that healthcare workers are protected under existing legislation and existing tools that the police across Ontario have. I know that our healthcare leadership wants to keep their staff and the visitors to their hospital safe and will continue to do that using the existing tools we have. Thank you, Speaker. The final supplementary. Mr. Ontarians are fed up with the Premier's hesitation to take on the anti-vaxxers and they're tired of hearing him apologize to them. Well, he does nothing to protect our healthcare heroes and cancer patients trying to get into our hospitals. Our parents who are simply trying to drop off the kids at school and they're being screamed at by these folks. Small businesses and their customers, small businesses who are trying to stay afloat and customers who are trying to support those small businesses who are being targeted and harassed by these unruly mobs of people. The Premier needs to do the right thing here, Speaker. He needs to do the right thing and pass the safety zone legislation that we tabled the other day so that Ontarians can go about all of the activities. Ontarians who have done the right thing, who have been vaccinated, who are trying to ensure that we fight successfully against COVID-19. They're the ones that need this Premier's attention. They're the ones that he shouldn't be saying no to. Will he say yes and pass safety zone legislation? Please take your seat. And the Solicitor General. I appreciate that the member opposite is attempting to make this a larger issue than it is. I will reinforce and remind people that currently in the province of Ontario, intimidation is not allowed. We have the tools, the police in our jurisdictions have the police to enforce, to ensure that our healthcare workers are safe. I get it. I'm no happier than anyone else when I see protests happening in front of our schools or our hospitals. But we also have to appreciate that people have the right to share their opinion. I would prefer that they do it in the centre of government here at Queen's Park. Having said that, when there is intimidation and harassment in front of our hospitals, then the police have the ability to act and I know that our hospital leadership will ensure that their staff remain safe. Thank you. Thank you. The next question, once again, the Leader of the Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. My next question is for the Premier, but I think it's clear this government can do something about the problem that we see happening to too many people going about their business in Ontario. But my question now is about the 35 days that it's been now since seniors and kids in our province have been able to access eye care. There are children who are literally now in school having trouble seeing the blackboard. There are seniors who are unable to renew their driver's licence, which then, of course, makes them less mobile, less independent because they can't get their glasses prescription renewed because the service isn't being funded by the government. I spoke to a mom named Beverly Murray last week whose teenage daughter is literally suffering from eye pain and migraines and she cannot get her daughter an appointment to have her vision and her eyes looked after by their optometrist. So my question to the Premier is, why is he saying no? Why is he saying no and refusing, refusing to get us a fair deal and fund the optometry services that our kids and our seniors so desperately need and deserve? Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Thank you very much, Speaker. And through you, Speaker, I would like to advise the leader of the official opposition that OHIP funded services continue to be funded by the province of Ontario. However, the many optometrists in the province at the urging of the association have chosen not to provide those services. We're very disappointed with that. We have been engaging in discussions with them and we're ready to continue those discussions. But this is the problem is due to the fact that the Ontario Association of Optometrists refuses to go back to the independent mediator and adhere to their conditions in order for the mediation to resume. We are ready, willing and able to go back to the table to discuss, but this is not something that the OAO is interested in doing and it's especially concerning that they continue to tell the public that they are waiting for us to return to the mediation table when in fact that is not the case. We as the government are ready to go back and resume those discussions, but the Ontario Association of Optometrists is not. The supplementary question. Well, Speaker, I have to say that it's really interesting to see what's happened here in Ontario. First thing that happened was the Liberals delisting eye care services, allowing, of course, seniors and kids, but then seriously underfunding those services for many, many, many years. And now this Premier is making it much, much worse by refusing to come to the table and negotiate a fair deal and refusing to properly fund eye care. Granted, the Liberals refuse to do it for years and years as well, but the problem has become worse under this government and that is no way, Speaker, to govern. That is no way to govern. This government needs to get serious about cutting a deal, a deal that is fair. And my question to the Premier is why does he continue to say yes to his buddies, to his developer buddies, to the big box stores, but say no when it comes to providing the necessary eye and vision care for our kids and our seniors. Mr. Hill. Speaker, well, I really appreciate the opportunity to set the members of the opposition to understand what the situation actually is, as well as the members of the public. Because the situation is such that the optometrists have refused to come back to mediation. They're choosing to demand an outcome before we even get into negotiations. However, I also appreciate the chance to advise what has actually happened. The government is making a payment of $39 million into the accounts of optometrists who have provided those services, covering an account to cover what's happened in the past. And I totally agree that the optometrists were not treated fairly by the previous government. But we are paying the $39 million recognizing that the same rate as what physicians would have received from 2011 to when their jail expired to now what physicians would have received. That's how we calculated that $39 million. We've also offered to an immediate OHIP fee increase of 8.48% retroactive to April 1st, 2021 and to engage in further negotiations with the optometrists about their overhead costs because we have a responsibility to do that as we attempt to achieve a revenue. Thank you. And the final supplement. The government has a duty and a responsibility to negotiate not dictate. They haven't figured that out yet but that's their responsibility. This premier is easily saying yes to his buddies but he said no to students, teachers and parents last spring. He said no last summer to long-term care residents and their families who needed the government's help and now we're seeing it again as he says no to our kids and our seniors who need to have vision care and deserve to have vision care here in our province. So my question to the premier is will he finally say yes? Get back to the table and put proper funding in place and commit negotiating a fair deal so that our kids and our seniors can get what they need in terms of their vision care. Take your seat. Minister of Health. Well the short answer to your question is yes we are ready willing and able to go back into mediation but you can't negotiate when you're the only party at the table. We have said with the optometrists we're ready to proceed to rectify very relevant concerns to deal with the back pay issue to deal with an increase going forward to deal with their overhead and to have an ongoing monthly discussion with them which is something that is not done with every healthcare group. We want to remedy their complaints we want to reach a deal with them but they need to come back to the table. We are ready to go to the table we have agreed to the mediators request but the Ontario Association of Optometrists they're the mediators conditions we're asking them to please come back to the table so we actually can respond but you can't do that by yourself. The next question the member for Brampton Centre. Thank you good morning speaker my question is to the Premier medical exemptions for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine are very rare. Dr. Moore has said that about 1 in 5 out of 100,000 Ontarians would be eligible for medical exemption to the vaccine. Yet somehow speaker two members of the PC government caucus both claim to have medical exemptions it's statistically curious that two out of 70 members somehow have these medical exemptions Dr. Moore says it's supposed to be very rare and that these exemptions will need a review province wide so the question to the Premier is can the Premier help explain the statistical anomaly in his own caucus. Thank you Mr. Speaker I think I'm not entirely certain what this has to do with government business but I'll say this Mr. Speaker the Premier took immediate action to ensure that all members of this caucus were vaccinated and to ensure that those that had not received their two doses presented a medical exemption Mr. Speaker of course those exemptions are provided by medical professionals and we have to assume that the medical professional providing this exemption has done so based on the guidance and recommendations of the Chief Medical Officer. And the supplementary question Thank you Speaker Ontarians should be getting vaccinated unless it's absolutely cleared with a medical exemption and as Dr. Moore has stated these exemptions are exceptionally rare as we've all come to learn one of the PC members former parliamentary assistant to the Attorney General revealed to her house leader that she hadn't in fact been vaccinated as she'd previously led on and misrepresented her vaccine status Will the Premier be demanding that these exemptions be reviewed or will he once again just be taking his members' claims at face value? Well thank you Mr. Speaker and thanks to Ontarians and the frontline healthcare workers we have vaccinated over 22 million people in Ontario We're one of the world leaders with 87% of eligible Ontarians vaccinated and 82% fully vaccinated but I find it pretty rich when the leader of the NDP should recognize that considering her own position evolves day to day depending on which way the wind blows that's the decision the NDP leader and I find it ironic that the Liberal Party with only 7 caucus members still can't figure out who's vaccinated or not we were very transparent Mr. Speaker on the people that had a medical exemption we don't get involved in people's personal medical words but we were very transparent and again Mr. Speaker I find it very rich that the NDP depends on the day can't tell us who's vaccinated and who's not the next question the member for Flamborough Glenbrook Thank you and good morning Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister of the Environment Conservation and Parks and firstly I would like to congratulate the member for Northumberland Peterborough South for his new appointment the people of Ontario are very fortunate to have such a hard working member at the helm of a very important government portfolio and I look forward to seeing all of the continued work that you will be undertaking on behalf of the government for the people of Ontario Mr. Speaker our government is continuing to lead the country and driving down harmful emissions by expanding the availability and use of clean fuels one such clean fuel that our government sees potential in is hydrogen could the Minister of Environment Conservation and Parks share some details of the government's low carbon hydrogen strategy Minister of the Environment Conservation and Parks to reply Thank you Speaker and thank you to the tremendous member from Flamborough Glenbrook for that excellent question she's right Ontario leads Canada in driving down GHG emissions and building a more sustainable future we're doing that thanks to the leadership of this government expanding renewables in clean fuels that's the equivalent to taking the emissions of over 300,000 cars off the road we're doing it through building subways go service line like we've never seen in Ontario when families are spending less time in gridlock they're spending more time with their loved ones and finally thanks to the leadership of the Premier and the Minister of Economic Development we've seen a historic renaissance in manufacturing $6 billion in investments Ontario is an EV powerhouse thanks to their work but Mr. Speaker one of the things I'm most excited about is hydrogen it presents incredible potential Ontario is again among the leader in Canada in establishing a hydrogen strategy working group work is underway to finalize a strategy and with it I'm confident that Ontario will be among the first movers in this space leveraging our clean energy advantage and continuing to be a leader in Canada thank you Speaker and the supplementary question thank you Speaker and thank you Minister for that explanation hydrogen appears to be a key to the government's plan to reducing greenhouse gas emissions but is something many Ontarians simply are unfamiliar with could the Minister of the Environment Conservation and Parks please share with me some of the interesting applications for hydrogen that our government is exploring Minister of the Environment thank you again to the member for that great question there are countless ways low-carbon hydrogen can be used in once day-to-day lives in communities it can be blended into natural gas pipeline to heat our homes and our businesses it can be used as a replacement for fossil fuels that are used in high temperature applications like in the production of steel and cement imagine a building sector where these materials could be produced with minimal carbon emissions and did you know that 80% of Ontario's 2018 greenhouse gas emissions came from transportation enter buses and trucks fueled by low carbon hydrogen and I'd like to give a special shout out to the incredible folks that I visited at Cummins in Mississauga leaders in the exciting work they're doing for fuel cell technology our government will continue to fight climate change Mr. Speaker and build an Ontario where green, clean solutions thrive and prosper thank you next question to member for University of Rosedale thank you my question is to the Minister of Education aid provinces have signed on to the federal government's promise to roll out $10 a day childcare but Ontario hasn't even though many parents in Ontario pay some of the highest childcare fees in Canada upwards of $20,000 a year childcare has become so expensive that parents, mostly women are giving up their careers they're going part-time because they can't make it work women's participation in the workforce has dropped to a 30 year low if this government is committed to equality for women and a strong economic recovery then families need access to equality affordable childcare so this is my question when is this government going to sign on and provide $10 a day childcare to help the parents and children who live in Ontario Minister of Education well thank you very much Mr. Speaker I appreciate the question from the member opposite I think what the member opposite and I could agree is under the former Liberal government for 15 years childcare rose the second highest in Canada after the I should note 40% increase in childcare fees that is simply unacceptable to the Premier and our government making it inexcusably high for average families and middle-class people it's why the first act the government took in our first budget was to introduce an Ontario childcare tax credit to put money directly in the pockets of moms and dads recognising they are best positioned to make decisions with respect to their child's care during the pandemic we enhanced that and yes we are negotiating in good faith with the federal government to get a good deal not any deal a good deal for the people of Ontario that recognises our unique advantages but one of the only provinces that funds all day kindergarten so yes we are working with the federal government with the Prime Minister's office with the Minister of Response to deliver a deal that provides affordability for families in this province and the supplementary question thank you speaker my question is back to the Minister of Education and our childcare centres because they are also struggling to survive during this pandemic many have seen a drop in enrollment because parents have lost work and are choosing to stay at home and also because the fees are so expensive childcare centres have also had to bring on more staff in order to implement important infection control measures to keep children and staff safe and many centres are now at risk of closure many have cut staff hours and many have closed doors and many of the non-profit childcare centre is struggling when it should be thriving so this is my question what is your plan to ensure that every parent who needs a quality non-profit or public childcare space for their child can get one thank you thank you member opposite for the question in fact 99.67% of childcare centres are open in the province of Ontario today in part because we have provided backstop funding to them to ensure for the benefit of moms and dads they can get back to work this government is investing $2 billion in building childcare spaces $2 billion to help ensure sustainable quality and affordable childcare 30,000 childcare spaces is the commitment we made 10,000 within new schools which we have undertaken in each and every budget to expand access to make life more affordable we enrich the Ontario childcare tax credit weeks that benefit providing funding directly to the federal government that is going to make a difference and working with the federal government we hope to get a good deal that advances affordability that makes childcare more accessible in all regions of Ontario next question thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the premier Mr. Speaker John in Orleans is in his 60s and he has cataracts John relies on his optometrists and he has a long term eye health without regular examinations and John is not alone like everyone in this chamber I have heard from thousands of constituents who support role class and are frustrated with the government's inaction to ensure its continued delivery I have heard from moms like Andrea who like many parents have risen to the challenge this year juggling kids at home and keeping their families safe and now that their kids are headed to get an eye test she wants to ensure that her children are able to see the smart board and participate in extracurriculars they've been missing due to COVID but due to the government's inaction OHIP covered eye exams have been non-existent for about a month basically since school came back and like so many other issues facing the government they wait until the absolute last moment until they've broken the system and chaos ensued for the premier when will the government take action on eye care now that they've broken it when will they start to try to fix it Mr. Health well thank you very much speaker and I thank the member opposite for the question in fact I know that people like John and Andrea and thousands of people across the province are relying upon their optometrists to provide them with the care that they need whether it's glasses for school drugs, seniors that have other eye care problems that is why we are very disappointed that the OAO has walked away from the mediation table we are ready willing and able to correct some of the problems that they have been experiencing pursuant to the previous government their last agreement expired in 2011 I know that they are frustrated we want to work with them we want to bring them back to the table they've refused to agree to the conditions that have been put in place by the independent mediator not by the government we have agreed to those conditions the optometrists have not so we are very anxious to resume those discussions but as I indicated earlier you can't negotiate when there's only one party at the table so I urge the optometrists to come back to the table we are anxious to resolve your issues we have put $39 million into your accounts that will be paid mid October but optometrists have already received the statements as to what they will be receiving we urge them to come back to the table so we can reach an agreement that is satisfactory to both the optometrists and to the taxpayers of Ontario because we have a financial responsibility there as well but we are ready to discuss their concerns any thank you very much and the supplementary questions thank you Mr. Speaker and the government optometrists were trying to engage the government in meaningful discussions to address the eye care funding issues in the province and the government simply said no the government and this premier like to say no Mr. Speaker the premier said no to supporting workers with paid sick days the premier said no to vaccine certificates the premier said no to smaller class sizes and now the premier is saying no to OHIP covered eye exams so that they can go back to school and see the board but they're also suffering from headaches and this eye exam is a critical aspect in diagnosing that particular problem she's tried to book an OHIP covered eye exam for her kids and she was told no Mr. Speaker so Mr. Speaker when will the premier actually start saying yes when will he say yes to OHIP covered eye exams and sit down and hammer out a deal to give Ontarian's world-class eye care once again thank you well I'd like to correct another fundamental misapprehension here the government is still funding OHIP covered eye services however the optometrists have chosen not to provide them so the reason for this impasse lays at the feet of the optometrists at this point they need to come back to the table to discuss this with us we had had a numerous a number of discussions before September 1 which was the date that they decided that they would refuse to supply these services those we had several mediation efforts which came to a delay or just to a standstill because the optometrists wanted us to agree to a foregone conclusion we can't agree in advance to something that has to be negotiated so we are already willing and able to discuss this with them we've said that for months and months we want to come to a conclusion with them to deal with their past issues their present issues and their future issues so I would urge all of the members of the opposition to please discuss this with the association of optometrists ask them to come back to the table so thank you thank you very much the next question order the next question the member for Kitchener Conestoga thank you so much Mr. Speaker and my question is for the associate minister for digital government and I would like to be I believe the first in the House to congratulate him on his new appointment to this very very important ministry our government has always focused on keeping the people of Ontario safe and we have not wavered from that commitment through the entire Covid pandemic Mr. Speaker we will get through this health crisis we will continue supporting Ontarians and businesses and we will get the economy back on track could the minister please explain what our government is doing to help businesses operate safely and how that is working to support our economy I recognize the associate minister for digital government I would like to thank the member of Kitchener Conestoga for the question Speaker we know businesses have faced significant challenges over the past 18 months that's why we are continuing to do everything in our power to provide businesses with the support the stability they need and they deserve and that's why Mr. Speaker this month our government will be delivering the enhanced vaccine certificate with a unique QR code and an accompanying free verify app for businesses that can be downloaded from the Apple app store and the Google app store onto a smartphone Speaker the app will allow businesses to quickly and easily scan QR codes so that they can determine if a person have received full vaccination or not and can enter the indoor establishment the made in Ontario app Speaker is the best option for businesses because it makes the vaccine verification process quicker easier and more secure Thank you very much Mr. Speaker the supplementary question Thank you very much Speaker I'd like to thank the Minister for that response and of course his commitment to developing tools that support the Ministry of Health Public Health measures Our government continues to urge every Ontarian to get vaccinated and I'm happy to say that proof of vaccination policy has resulted in meaningful increases in the province vaccination rates Over 82% of eligible Ontarians are now vaccinated and his fantastic news As we move forward with the next phase of the proof of vaccination policy could the Minister please explain how this QR code and verification app for businesses will work Associate Minister to respond again Thank you very much Speaker and thank you to the member for the question Speaker vaccine certificates will help make sure certain higher risk businesses and settings remain safe They will also help protect progress and avoid future lockdowns Much like other leading digital jurisdictions governments we are building the verification app and plan to release it as open source software It is transparent speaker that can be continuously improved But we want to stress that digital first doesn't mean digital only On October 22nd Ontarians will have the choice to download the QR code enhanced vaccine certificate or they can continue to use the print version Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Thank you The next question Thank you so much Speaker My question is for the Minister of Education Winchester Public School sits at the very top of the list of schools that are in dire need of repair in Toronto In fact the cost to repair the school is estimated at over $7 million for one school The urgent repairs at Winchester include water boilers that have passed their useful service life parts of the roof and the foundation and upgrades to the ventilation system which we know is vital to preventing the spread of COVID-19 in our classrooms For years the Liberal government ignored these problems and now this government is refusing to spend the money that our schools actually need to get into a good state of repair When can students and education workers at Winchester Public School from this government to tackle their $7 million repair backlog Why? The Minister of Education Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I thank the member opposite for the question I appreciate there are significant needs to remediate a backlog a multi-billion dollar backlog we inherited from the former Liberal government We recognize building new schools and renovating existing schools is critical It's why we have now announced over $1 billion of net new school we're unveiling another half a billion dollar allocation to build additional schools to renovate existing schools right across Ontario of course in Toronto and in rural and remote parts of the province as well We're allocating $14 billion over the next decade to do that part of a long term commitment to improve the learning facilities that our children are within There are $750 million for example last year where we announced 50 new schools including two joint new school projects We approved 23 permanent additions and another $129 million to do that and $56 million to build over 1700 net new child care spaces The work continues We will of course invest more to ensure our schools meet the needs of our kids today Thank you And a supplementary question With all due respect to the minister I didn't hear him say that a single penny was coming to Winchester Public School in Toronto Centre It's a school that sits at the very very top of the repair backlog in Toronto Annette Carling is a grade 7 and 8 teacher at Winchester and she told the CBC in an article that I quote, the windows are awful and it gets really cold or it gets stifling hot We can't breathe These are critical issues and unhealthy in the best of times let alone during a pandemic We are in the fourth wave and ensuring students are safe in their classrooms is an utmost responsibility and should be an utmost responsibility of this minister Why isn't this government working to prevent outbreaks and fix the repair backlog in our school specifically Winchester Public School in Toronto Centre Thank you speaker We're proud that there are 2 million children learning today in school where they belong The plan we've unveiled has been endorsed by the Chief Medical Officer of Health in a line to the Ontario Sign Stable It ensures $600 million of ventilation improvements within schools in Ontario The deployment of 70,000 HEPA units to schools in Ontario That school and all schools would have received a benefit and enhancement to their ventilation as a consequence of our government's investment and improvement We know that the plan we've unveiled is not taking that for granted The Chief Medical Officer of Health announced another tool in the toolkit to ensure we keep schools safe and keep them open It's why we've announced a targeted deployment of rapid antigen testing to high-risk schools in addition to the layered approach of masking, of distancing of cleaning of schools and of course of ventilation improvements We are going to continue to invest will be announced forthcoming in the future of kids learning every day Thank you The next question, the member for Guelph Thank you Speaker, good morning My question is for the Premier Let's put some facts on the table Independent third party research shows that the operating cost to provide an eye exam in Ontario without doctor compensation is $75.51 In Manitoba Optometrists are reimbursed $77 In Quebec In Alberta $137 But in Ontario the government pays $44 Forcing optometrists to lose $30 for each OHIP eye exam they provide It's not fair It's not sustainable And children and seniors are paying the price of inaction Speaker, the previous government failed to fix this issue The current government must fix it So seniors and children get the eye care they deserve Will the Premier commit today to saying yes to eye exams and paying the full operating cost of OHIP eye exams in this province And to reply Minister of Health Thank you Speaker and thank you to the member for the question I can certainly agree with you that the previous government did not address the concerns of optometrists There is one reason why they are so concerned right now about reaching an agreement Their last agreement expired in 2011 We have made payment into their account to cover that time period based at the same rate as a physician's rate of increase which is what they asked for We are already willing and able to sit down at the table and discuss their additional costs But some of the comparisons that they have provided to the public are not entirely accurate particularly with respect to Manitoba which makes payments every two years not every year So we're not comparing apples to apples in this situation However, having said that we are prepared and we are continuing to fund OHIP operated services for services for children and seniors But we want to sit back at the table with the optometrists to discuss their additional costs and I'll have more to say about that in the supplemental speaker with all due respect to the minister this is about simple math not magical math The $39 million basically equals out to an extra dollar per exam over the last decade still meaning that optometrists are losing around $30 for each exam The proposal the government has on the table increases compensation from around $44 to $48 meaning they're still losing $27 per exam like what business can survive if they're losing money on every exam they offered No other health care service has said hey, you know what to keep the lights on or to pay for staff or maybe to pay for the heating you have to do that out of your pocket because we are not going to cover it Speaker it's just wrong it is wrong and it's letting down access to critical eye care which is health care so will the government at least to commit to covering the operating costs not even compensating the doctors covering the operating costs of eye exams in this province Minister of Health Once again, I appreciate the opportunity to correct another fundamental misapprehension with respect to the $39 million that's being paid into the accounts it's not being paid pro-rata to every single optometrist in the program, it's not another $1.50 whatever it is that is being suggested it's actually a payment to cover them for the OHIP funded services that they provided during that time period very significant difference in fact there are some optometrists that will be receiving over $100,000 as a result of just this one payment however we're not suggesting that that should be the only payment we expect optometrists to pay out of pocket for the services that they provide we are prepared to pay the $39 million in back payments 8.48% going forward retroactive to April 1st of this year and then to enter into an agreement with them to talk about their operating costs we are willing to look at their overhead costs but we can't just write a blank check we have to do our thank you very much thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker there have been concerns raised in my community around vaccine hesitancy and how to encourage younger Ontarians particularly those born in 2009 who have lower vaccination rates to get the information they need to feel comfortable getting vaccinated I know the best way to protect ourselves and our communities is to get as many Ontarians as possible to come forward and roll up their sleeves it's clear that our government has had one of the most successful immunization campaigns in the country with over 86% of Ontarians over 12 having at least one dose and 81% of Ontarians being fully vaccinated we've made great progress Mr. Speaker but are still seeing significant vaccine hesitancy among younger age groups and so on behalf of my constituents Carlton I want to ask what our government is doing to help address this concern and what supports are available for youth looking to get vaccinated thank you Mr. Speaker I want to thank the member from Carlton for this very important question and for the great work you do on behalf of your constituents every day our government has had one of the most successful vaccination campaigns in the country as the member mentioned to date we have administered over 21 million doses more than any other province or territory this means over 86% of Ontarians aged 12 and over are benefiting from a first dose of immunization and more than 81% are fully immunized but we're not finished according to the science table's latest modeling unvaccinated people have a seven times higher risk of symptomatic COVID-19 disease a 25 times higher risk of being in hospital and 60 times higher risk of being in the ICU compared to people who are fully vaccinated because of this we are continuing our last mile strategy to reach eligible individuals who have yet to receive either a first or second dose to support this last mile strategy the province and public health units are focusing on smaller community based and easy to access settings for vaccinations like hosting clinics close to schools and at community centers we work with Sick Kids Hospital to create a hotline for families to call to ask health care professionals about any questions or concerns they have concerning vaccines for you the supplementary question thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the minister for that response and all the work she has done this past year and a half to support Ontarians during this pandemic Mr. Speaker I know that my constituents and all Ontarians will be very happy about the specific initiatives we are taking to make vaccines more accessible to you I often receive questions about what is being done to support a more community based approach in the last mile strategy I was happy to see that Ottawa Public Health created their own VAXO bus after the success of the GOVAX bus initiative my question to the minister is could you please elaborate on some of the specific initiatives included in the government's last mile strategy thank you Mr. Speaker yes of course our government is working with public health units to target areas with low vaccination rates as identified by postal codes to support localized vaccination strategies as well as targeted marketing by the province in these areas our strategy does include mobile clinics like the GOVAX buses and community based pop-ups dedicated clinic days for families with people with disabilities in town hall meetings in multiple languages in fact just last weekend the GOVAX buses attended several sites including the Caledonia Fair Islamic Society of North American Mississauga Midland Marina the Listawal Fair the Markham Fair and the Lang Pioneer Village Museum in Keen Ontario additionally the buses will be parked at several college and university campuses as well as GO stations this week protection against COVID-19 and the Delta variant I encourage all Ontarians to please attend these sites to get your vaccination as soon as possible thank you the next question the member for Ottawa Centre my question is to the Premier Ottawa's light rail transit our LRT system is off the rail literally and figuratively on September 19th the Confederation Line train derailed damaging both the car and the track thankfully no one was injured but the entire system has been disabled for three weeks and no data has been provided yet as to when we can expect a resumption of service order speaker I'm frustrated and so our people stop the clock the Minister of Heritage will come to order the member for Ottawa or Leanne will come to order neither of you have the floor I apologize to the member for Ottawa Centre please restart the clock you have the floor but my point is people at home are upset they're upset because this derailment is just the latest in a long string of failures speaker doors that don't work wheels that go flat latest awful stenches in some of the tunnels the province paid speaker $600,000 for phase one of this LRT and it's paid $1.2 billion for phase two so we as a province can't just pass the buck to the City of Ottawa we have an interest in this so I'm asking the Premier and the Government will you join us today will you join me today in asking the Auditor General to investigate infrastructure Ontario's role in bottom lining the procurement of this project so we can get to the bottom of this mess the Associate Minister of Transportation well thank you very much speaker and I appreciate that this is a very frustrating situation for the people of Ottawa and transit this is a priority for our province it has to be done right and we're well aware of these municipally led projects and the City is responsible for the procurement that has gone off the rails here in Ottawa speaker but we're going to do our part we're going to work with the Federal Government we're going to work with the City of Ottawa those discussions with Mayor Watson are ongoing and it's despite the member who sits in this chamber from where they ends who is part of this process speaker we will continue to fix the mess we're going to make sure we help the people of Ottawa and get the LRT project back on the rails thank you speaker I'm just going to invite my friend opposite to take some responsibility because it was this government that made sure the contract was signed it was this government that made sure infrastructure Ontario bottom lined the procurement of this project which was a public-private partnership speaker it's the same development model this government is promoting talk the clock member for Carlton will come to order member for Flamborough-Glandbrook will come to order please restart the clock that's the Ottawa thing it's not unlike the screeching of the wheels of a broken LRT that I hear over there but the fact of the matter is Liberal and Conservative governments have embraced this public-private partnership model but do you know what it means to the people of Ottawa speaker in practice I'm going to caution the member on his language please conclude your question the public-private partnership means to Ottawa in practice it means the public pays the price for failure infrastructure Ontario acted as an underwriter and an advisor to the city of Ottawa in this procurement project the Auditor General should use the full powers of her office to investigate this matter it's about value for dollars for Ontario citizens will the government join me today join us today in asking the Auditor General the Associate Minister thank you speaker there's no question that improving public transit is a priority of this government and that's why when it came to the Ottawa LRT this government under the leadership of Premier Ford committed 1.8 billion dollars for the project between phases one and two but speaker it is crucial to note that this is a municipally run project and the procurement of this project is the responsibility of the city of Ottawa perhaps we should ask the former city of Ottawa Transit Commission the chair who sits in the seat today and the member for more lands on what wrong speaker because this government did its part it's going to continue to do its part and invest in public transit in Ottawa and across this entire province the next question the member for Scarborough Guildwood thank you speaker throughout this pandemic my community of Scarborough Guildwood has been a hotspot for COVID-19 and my question is to the minister of education this government lacks a proactive planning lack of proactive planning has put people at great risk I co-hosted an education town hall last week and one of my constituents Dave shared the story of his daughters class sizes increasing despite the fact that they're supposed to be safely distancing and the reason given was budget restraints this despite the FAO reporting today that the education sector has actually unspent $2 billion you are not taking the steps to make sure that there is safety in our schools why are classes getting larger why is there no rapid testing in schools from the start of the school year this government's pattern of delay has been costly for all of us and your constant flip-flopping on rapid testing does not provide clarity to parents so speaker will there be enough rapid tests for every student in Scarborough and how much longer do parents like Dave have to wait I remind members to make the comments through the chair the minister of education to respond thank you very much Mr. Speaker I want to quote the chief medical officer who I think the member robson I would agree is an authority in Ontario he said and I quote I hope the parents can understand that our schools are remaining safe we've got excellent protocols in place in the addition of testing strategy asymptomatic testing strategy will only further build confidence and support our school system if you compare us to any other province we're keeping our schools open we're keeping our schools safe we're minimizing the disruption in schools and we will build an asymptomatic testing strategy for test and stay in surveillance we're relatively low in Ontario as compared to other jurisdictions in North America and that's because our system is working and quote Mr. Speaker we put in a layered approach that aligns with the best medical expertise of the Ontario science table who opposes a province wide broad base asymptomatic testing program but supports a targeted approach which is exactly what the government has adopted as another tool in the toolbox to keep schools safe to keep them open and to keep our kids learning Mr. Speaker, why is this minister ignoring the fact that a third of all COVID cases are in schools? Speaker, we know that vaccines are the best way to beat COVID-19 yet this government refuses to mandate COVID vaccines for in-person learning and is still willing to pack more than 30 students in a classroom over 25% of eligible students are yet to receive their second dose and we know that children between the ages of 5 and 11 will soon be able to receive their vaccine. However, like many places in this province and in my riding of Scarborough Guildwood we have many parents who must work multiple jobs at extensive hours and cannot take their young ones to get their job so speaker my question to this minister and this government will you provide a plan and funding to schools so that those children 5 to 11 can get a coordinated way to receive their vaccines or will you delay and keep them waiting again? Minister of Education Well thank you speaker I think when it comes to the immunization of citizens we should not politicize this we should celebrate as parliamentarians the fact that this province has one of the highest rates of immunization in this country one of the highest rates of immunization in Canada and yet juxtaposed against one of the lowest case rates in Canada we're proud of that, we should all be proud of that that has been because in part of the leadership of our medical frontline staff our teachers, I think parents and students who are leading by example we have put in place $386 million for the second year in a row to ensure class sizes to ensure distancing within our classes to ensure that our schools are safe but in addition to that funding allocation we have stepped up the air ventilation an additional $600 million over 2,000 projects 70,000 HEPA units within every school in Ontario including in every kindergarten class and in the schools within our respective communities that regrettably do not have mechanical ventilation while we are fixing that we have put a HEPA unit in every single learning space every JV, every class, every library, every tech lab we're doing that because the Ontario Sunsabah leading pediatric experts have said that is the way to keep our school safe that is exactly what we're doing to ensure that our schools are safe schools are open and kids continue to learn Thank you Next question, the member for Thunder Bay Attic, Oaken Thank you, Speaker My question is for the Premier I was contacted last month by constituent Merrid O'Higgins-Human Her husband had a serious medical condition and Merrid had to jump through hoops calling everyone she could think of to try to get a family doctor but it shouldn't have taken all that effort especially for someone who has a very serious medical condition Too many people in Northern Ontario can't find a family doctor accepting new patients This government had three years to solve this issue What is this government doing to make sure everyone who needs a doctor can get one? To respond on behalf of the government the Minister of Health Thank you very much to the member for the question This is a concern for many people in different parts of Ontario particularly Northern Ontario and in some cases rural Ontario we have been working very hard to increase the number of family physicians that has been increased more people working in teams as well but there are some situations where they have virtual teams I would call the Renfrew virtual triage unit one that does provide those services where people if they don't have a family doctor can call in to this service they can then be treated by triage by the appropriate medical person either online virtually or in person visit so there are different modalities that we are using now in situations where we don't have a large number of family physicians and I think that with the advances that we've made in virtual care and technology that will be one additional tool that we can use in areas that are under responsible supplementary questions Thanks speaker my question is for the minister then I agree the doctor shortage in Ontario especially in rural and Northern Ontario is nothing new but and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine estimates that we are going to need 300 doctors immediately and that is not accounting for the retirements that are coming up the pandemic revealed what so many people knew all along that healthcare was in crisis and for far too long it's been underfunded and people have slipped through the cracks people do not have access to primary healthcare too many people need a doctor but cannot find one and none of them are taking new patients we can't allow this to continue will this government commit to providing a family doctor for each person who needs one Thank you Mr. Hill Well what I can certainly indicate to the member opposite for raising a very legitimate concern that we are listening to what the Northern Ontario School of Medicine is advising we are moving forward to provide that kind of integrated care that people across Ontario require that is why we have started on the transformation of our entire healthcare system to make sure that within the geographic regions we have Ontario health teams Ontario health teams are there to integrate primary care with hospital care with home and community care and long-term care to make sure that people have the supports that they need throughout their entire healthcare journey we have seen the benefit of these teams throughout this pandemic because the teams have come together to fill in the gaps in service to make sure that people receive the care that they need and we are trying to deal with the social determinants of health which we have said that we wanted to deal with for a number of years but haven't actually really done yet we can do it through the local Ontario health teams by bringing in the social service agencies to be part of these teams to make sure that people receive that Thank you very much Thank you The next question is for the Premier Back in July the Premier promised that we were not going to have a two-tier passport system eight weeks later the Premier was announcing a two-tier passport system that is denying millions in Ontario the ability to access services including public services paid for by the taxpayer facilities and in many cases is resulting in people losing their jobs upon announcing the passport the Minister of Health instructed facility operators to call the police to enforce the passport and sure enough in a couple of weeks we have an idea of using police services to enforce passport rules and arrest hockey moms as a good use of taxpayer dollars To respond the Solicitor General Thank you Speaker now as we've said from the beginning when we introduced the vaccine certificates it was to ensure that we had safe workplaces safe community centres safe opportunities for our children and ourselves to be able to start too slowly but safely gather inside the vaccine certificate does just that we are asking people to be respectful of the fact that when business operators when municipalities ask for proof of vaccines that people do that and they do it respectfully there are so many people who have worked so hard to get us to this point where we are over 80% vaccinated we need to go the final mile to make sure that we protect everyone and yes that includes parents and individuals who want to use our public facilities and participate in sports and other activities inside the supplementary question Mr. Speaker the government mentions health and safety what's interesting is the new passport regulations from this government do not make any allowances to those who can show a negative COVID test millions in Ontario vaccinated and unvaccinated do not wish to participate in this witch hunt forcing them to disclose their private health information let me give you an example on Monday I was the only MPP to access this legislative chamber with a negative COVID test but someone here still wanted me expelled even though the science shows you could all be carrying and spreading COVID while the test shows that I was not if this is all about health and safety why doesn't the government allow Ontarians to access facilities and keep their jobs by showing a negative COVID test or showing immunity to COVID as has been done in other jurisdictions to respond the government I think the member for the question obviously the protocol was put in place here in the legislative assembly to ensure that all members could have a safe working environment the minister of health has said on numerous occasions we do encourage everybody to get vaccinated is the best way to protect the people of the province of Ontario but again it is does respect the fact that members of parliament have a right to access the precinct that is a right that we were not prepared to take away from the people of the province of Ontario I think the protocols from the members who are elected to this place I think it is a protocol that the speaker put in place with the support of most of the members of this house and as the member highlighted in her question she was granted that access that she has a right to have in this place by virtue of a negative test so we protected that I should say that the speaker has protected that right for all members of parliament and I am grateful for the speaker for allowing that president to continue on thank you that concludes our question period point of order the minister of heritage sport, tourism and culture industries has a point of order thank you very much speaker I know that we had a lengthy debate earlier today about what a relevant point of order is but there are a number of members in this legislature today that are celebrating 10 years first being elected the associate minister for women's issues the minister of economic development and trade as well as the member opposite of my tourism critic Michael Manta from Alcoma, Manitoba I would like to wish them as I know all members would a happy 10 year anniversary in this assumed place thank you congratulations to all of you I beg to inform the house that pursuant to standing order 101C changes have been made to the order of precedence on the ballot list for private members public business such that Ms. Faif assumes ballot item number 3 and Madam Geline assumes ballot item number 69 and Ms. Morrison assumes ballot item number 23 and Mr. Hatfield assumes ballot item number 264 there being no further business at this time this house stands in recess until 1pm