 It is now time for Question Period, the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. It's been one year since the Chief Electoral Officer tabled his scathing report into the actions of Pat Sobera and Jerry Lahi Jr. in the Sudbury by-election. A first for Ontario. No Chief Electoral Officer before Mr. Asenza has ever made a finding of apparent attempts of bribery under the Elections Act. Mr. Asenza pointed out that the Premier's very own Deputy Chief of Staff is the source of these apparent contraventions. Pat Sobera continues to work in the Premier's office despite the fact that dark cloud hangs over her head. So Mr. Speaker, a year after this historic finding by the Chief Electoral Officer the Premier has still assumed no responsibility. Will the Premier finally do the right thing and remove Pat Sobera from her office? Thank you. Thank you. Premier? Yeah, thanks very much Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've been very open with the legislature and with the media and the public about any of the allegations that have been put forward Mr. Speaker. As far as I know the Elections Ontario investigation that the Leader of the Opposition is speaking about is ongoing and will continue to cooperate with that independent investigation. Thank you. Supplementary. Remember from the East Grindel. Thanks Mr. Speaker. Again back to the Premier. While Pat Sobera may not have been charged with her partner in crime, Jerry Lahi, Jr. she continues to be under OPP investigation for the apparent contravention to the election act. I start the clock. I know what to do when. Please finish. Never before has a Premier allowed someone with so much influence to remain in their position while under police investigation. Integrity in the Premier's office seems to be a foreign concept to this government. Mr. Speaker, if Ms. Sobera is charged under the Elections Act, will the Premier finally ask her to step aside? Mr. Speaker, I've been very clear with the public. I've answered hundreds of questions on this issue. There's an Elections Ontario investigation going on. It's an independent investigation Mr. Speaker. It's taking place outside of this house. We'll continue to cooperate with that investigation. Thank you. Final supplementary. The Premier for one year, Ms. Sobera has had unfettered access to the Premier and all the government's documents. Her predecessor, Laura Miller, is charged herself with making important government documents disappear. Common sense will dictate that Pat Sobera step aside while under OPP investigation. And you heard the Premier. She won't even entertain the thought because this Premier, like her predecessor, will stop at nothing to protect her own personal political interest and hang on to power. So, Mr. Speaker, why should the public believe that this government hasn't once again wiped away all evidence of wrongdoing? Thank you. Government House Leader. Government House Leader. Well, Speaker, you know, I think the common sense will dictate that the opposition will respect the convention of this house and not interfere in an ongoing investigation. I think, Speaker, clearly they have no other important issues to talk about. Clearly they have no plan for Ontario that they continue to focus on an investigation that is outside the scope and jurisdiction of this legislature. In fact, Speaker, I will remind the member from Leeds-Grenville himself when he said himself back in February, stop interfering in an ongoing investigation and let it run its course. Speaker, I agree with him. The member from Leeds-Grenville and the member from Renfrew Nipissing Pembroke come to order. Finish, please. Speaker, I agree with his earlier statement that there is an independent investigation and let it run its course. I think the PC party should focus on building a plan for Ontario as opposed to just doing a scandal wandering in this house. What? New question. The Leader of the Opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. The government's recent agreement with the correctional officers only addressed one of the serious concerns facing our corrections system. Monty Vismler, the opposite corrections chair of the Ministry of Employee Relations Committee, said this recently to the Finance Committee in Windsor. The crisis is very real and is compromising the safety of staff offenders and all on charity that we serve. He said in one year the ministry recorded over 900 staffing related lockdowns across the province. Lastly, he said we've seen a significant corresponding rise in inmate on-staff assaults 855 in 2013 alone. Mr. Speaker, why is this government failing to protect the hard-working men and women who work in our correctional system? Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I know that the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services will want to speak to this, but I want to have the opportunity to say that in the reaching of a collective agreement with Opsu and with respect to the correctional bargaining unit, the work will be ongoing. You know, part of that agreement was that we would continue to work with them on things like better mental health supports, Mr. Speaker, enhancing rehabilitation and reintegration programs, building safer, stronger communities right across our province by doing that. So we recognize, Mr. Speaker, that there is more to be done. We recognize that there needs to be transformation within the system. Having said that, we have hired hundreds of new correctional officers, Mr. Speaker. 571 correctional officers, new correctional officers, since the fall of 2013. 144 new recruits are going through the training right now. That's the largest group ever, Mr. Speaker. So we recognize there's more to be done, but we are already in that process. Thank you, supplementary. Leader. Again, to the Premier. In December, I toured the Thunder Bay Jail along with several members of our PC caucus. Mr. Speaker, I could not believe the deplorable conditions could exist in a jail like this in the province of Ontario. The Mayor of Thunder Bay was being generous when he called it a rat hole. Mike Lundy, the head of the local correctional officers, said toilets don't flush. They regularly back up and overflow down into the kitchen. Sinks have no running water. There are holes and mould throughout the crumbling structure. There are no working sprinklers or smoke detectors. Mr. Speaker, I am sure that there are no working sprinklers. I am sure the Premier would never work in such disgusting conditions. Why then does she expect our correctional officers to work in these conditions? Mr. Speaker, I have correctional institutions to be safe for the people who work in them and for the inmates, Mr. Speaker. I want a transformation that actually leads to rehabilitation, Mr. Speaker. I want changes within the correctional service, which is why in the mandate letter to the Minister, he is charged with making those changes, Mr. Speaker. But I want to say that the leader of the opposition, I believe... A second time. Finish, please. Member of a government in Ottawa, Mr. Speaker, in the Harper regime who had no interest in rehabilitation, Mr. Speaker, no interest in working with the provinces on corrections, Mr. Speaker, no interest in ensuring that there was justice or transformation in our correctional institution, Mr. Speaker. I don't remember the leader of the opposition speaking up when he was a member in Ottawa. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier, throwing insults at past federal governments doesn't help... Mr. Speaker, dodging, deflecting doesn't help correctional officers. Mike Lundy from the Thunder Bay jail said it's a death trap. A death trap for staff and inmates packed in like human sardines. A severe overcrowding and chronic understaffing led to a full blown riot. There is a correctional officer that was taken hostage for 12 hours. I saw the first-hand account. I visited the jail. My question is very sincere, Madam Premier, will you visit the jail? Will you go to the jail? Will you see it yourself? Don't send someone else because if you see it, you won't stand free. I recognize I have been in jails. I visited jails with the Attorney General when she was the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. That's exactly why in the Minister's mandate letter is a charge to transform that system. I visited jails. I understand Mr. Speaker that there are concerns. Our solution will never be to throw more people in jail. Our solution will never be to increase the overcrowding. Our solution will be to focus on rehabilitation. Your time is up, but I'm going to wait until I get some quiet. New question, the leader of the third party. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. People expect the government to share their priorities, like creating good jobs and protecting health care that we all rely on. But this Premier just doesn't seem to get any more than 400 registered nursing jobs have been cut from our hospitals since the start of January, Speaker, and almost every day we hear of another Ontario hospital that is being forced by the Premier to cut patient care. People want to know, Speaker, why is the Premier cutting health care when she knows that these cuts are hurting Ontarians? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The reality is, I have said over and over, as the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care has said, over 24,000 more nurses are working in Ontario than we're working here in 2003, Mr. Speaker. A growth of 21% over 10,800 RNs have been added since 2003, Mr. Speaker. And as I said yesterday, Mr. Speaker, there are hospitals and health sciences centres that are hiring full-time nurses right now, Mr. Speaker. The Ottawa Hospital, Hamilton Health Sciences Centre, Aurelia Soldiers Memorial Hospital, the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Care Group. The fact is, Mr. Speaker, there are institutions all over the province that are hiring. We're going through a transformation. There's no doubt about that. Health care is being delivered starting year over year. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, similar to what the Premier's last comment was, yesterday she had the audacity to say that her plan doesn't include cutting healthcare. Well, the Premier should actually pay more attention to what she's doing and spend less time selling off Hydro-1 and helping Liberal insiders. Here's what's happening in the Ontario that the Premier doesn't seem to think much about. Patient care is suffering. Nearly 1200 registered nursing jobs in this province have been cut in just over a year. And those Liberal cuts, Speaker, no matter which way you look at it, mean longer wait times for patients. Fewer nurses in our hospitals and even less care for Ontarians when they need it the most. Why does this Premier think that patients should pay the price for her deep cuts to our hospitals? Thank you. Well, Mr. Speaker, I'm absolutely amazed with the allegations coming from the third party. Because once again, here are the facts Mr. Speaker. And not even ours on the government side, they're from the College of Nurses of Ontario that Ontario nurses held 86,794 employment positions in the hospital sector in 2014. And by the end of 2015, that had increased by almost a thousand more physicians according to the College of Nurses of Ontario to 87,513 at the end of 2015. So they fired nurses when they were in power in the 1990s. The number from Windsor West and Hamilton reduced the number of full-time physicians for nurses when they were in power. We've increased the proportion of nurses working full-time since we came into government in 2003. The numbers increased year after year after year. I'm happy to give more facts and truthful statements. Here's another thing that the Premier said yesterday. She said her changes to health care are causing, quote, some disruption in the system. But disruption, Speaker, does not begin to describe the damage that this federal government is doing to our health care here in this province. 1200 nursing jobs cut. Less care when hospital patients need it the most. And seniors waiting hundreds of days for home care and years upon years for long-term care. That is not disrupting, Speaker. That is devastating for patients and for their loved ones. When will the expertise of patients and nurses be able to talk about the priorities of families, think about what's happening in our health care system, and stop cutting health care in the province of Ontario? Well, again, Mr. Speaker, I'm flabbergasted. The facts are, when you look at the outcomes, when you look at wait times, the wait times that are being measured in this province and across the country. We have one of the best cancer care systems and best cancer outcomes in the world, Mr. Speaker. I'm proud of that, and I'm proud of the hard work professionals do day after day in this great province. Mr. Speaker, the truth is simply the opposite of what the third party would like to portray. We're increasing investments. We're increasing staffing across the health care system. We're making important investments in additional $270 million additional new dollars in home and community care this year alone, Mr. Speaker. We're making those important transitional reforms, but it's resolving it better care. Thank you. My next question is for the Premier. For most Ontarians, life is getting harder, and the Liberals just aren't helping. People want good jobs, the kind of jobs that come with good jobs, and the security of knowing that you can pay the bills. But families are struggling, and good jobs are hard to find, Speaker. The government should be focused on helping families, but instead this Premier is more focused on selling off Hydro One. Why is this Premier more interested in helping private investors turn a profit when she should be helping the people of Ontario? Thank you. Turn it. Well, Mr. Speaker, you know, absolutely focused on job creation. We're focused on working with businesses so that they can expand. I was at Morgan Solar yesterday, Mr. Speaker, which is a very innovative solar panel manufacturer, Mr. Speaker. They are expanding their operation in Ontario, Mr. Speaker. We made an announcement today that will have an effect on the wine industry in Ontario that will create more jobs in the wine industry on how we can play to the strengths of Ontario to create those jobs that are going to provide security for families in Ontario. That is our number one focus, Mr. Speaker, and in the budget next week, it will be very clear that is what our plan is doing, Mr. Speaker, and we continue to work with the private sector, with organizations around the province to make sure that we grow. Supplementary. We should know what's actually happening here in the province of Ontario. In Ontario today, youth unemployment has been above the national average for 12 years running, Mr. Speaker. The whole time this government has been in office, youth unemployment has been running above the national average and fewer than half of the workers, Mr. Speaker, fewer than half of the workers in the province are working in permanent full-time jobs. The Premier should be helping people and focusing on job creation, but she is more interested in the private investors and the profits that they can make of her sell-off of Hydro-1. Ontarians deserve to know, Mr. Speaker, why is this Premier not working for them? Mr. Speaker, economic development and infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, the leader of the opposition needs to get her facts straight. This province has grown by 208,000 net new jobs since the global recession and don't be telling me those aren't full-time jobs. Every single one of those jobs are full-time jobs because we're migrating from permanent jobs. Questions are to the chair. Answers are to the chair. Finish, please. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And one of the challenges that our economy has right now, Mr. Speaker, is that we have an opposition in this legislature that's advocating, tracking up corporate tax rates which is going to kill jobs. We have an opposition leader in this legislature that is opposing the important investments we're making. $130 billion over 10 years to create 110,000 jobs per year. Mr. Speaker, if you were to support those policies then, Mr. Speaker, we might have sympathy with your concerns. As I've just finished, I'm going to ask the member from Hamilton Eastoni Creek to come to order second time. And a reminder to everyone you always refer to members in this house either by their writing or by their title that helps with the debate hopefully. Final supplementary, no. Yes, yes, sorry, final supplementary. It's astounding that the minister of economic development and trade could say he has no sympathy whatsoever of the opposition's concern for the lack of jobs, good jobs for the people of this province. That is astounding, Speaker. The cluster in the world, but the reality is that the youth unemployment rate has been higher than the national average for 12 years running under this Liberal government's tutelage all that time. They have done nothing to help young people with work, Speaker. But Ontarians have clear priorities and they expect the Premier to protect healthcare and to focus on creating jobs. They want to share those priorities, Speaker. Over the past year, she started selling off Hydro One to help a small group of private investors turn a profit. At the same time, they failed to create the 32,000 jobs that they had promised in last year's budget, Speaker. So again, lots of plans but no action. Why can't this Premier stretch to help her... Why can't she stretch to help her Liberal friends but not stretch at all in Ontario? Minister? This government is absolutely committed to helping our young people find opportunities in this growing Ontario economy. An economy that's leading this country in growth, leading this country in job creation. That's why the Premier's put in place a youth job strategy, Mr. Speaker. 30,000 young people have seen employment opportunities as a result of that strategy. Did we have support when we gathered these policies? Absolutely not. In fact, Mr. Speaker, they continue to harp on antiquated... A member from Kitchener, Waterloo will come to order. Please finish. If the NDP really cared about youth employment they would have the courage to make the investments that we're making in infrastructure that are providing our young people with apprenticeship opportunities right across this province, Mr. Speaker. They don't have that courage. We do. We're standing up for young people and jobs across this country. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. I've stood in this house and have said to the Premier repeatedly that she needs to do more to combat human trafficking in Ontario. I've called for a coordinated task force. I have flagged numerous instances demanding action, but this government has done nothing. As my private member's bill, Saving the Girl Next Door Act outlines a number of things can be done immediately without further delay. Right now, although police units want to combat this crime, they do not have the resources they need. Very few police units are able to dedicate officers to deal with human trafficking and most don't have the resources to start. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier immediately commit to providing the financial resources police services need to really combat human trafficking? Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opposition members' focus on human trafficking and she knows full well that we are following up on the recommendations of the Select Committee. When we brought in our anti- sexual violence and harassment policy, it's never okay. I said at that time that the Select Committee was working on initiatives that we're going to complement and continue the work of that policy. So we're already taking steps on the ground, Mr. Speaker. We're building on the work of the committee. We're setting up that multi-ministerial advisory panel that was recommended. It'll be co-led by Minister Nakfi and Minister McCharles. They're going to work closely with the experts that were recommended on the front lines to bring forward a strategy which we will bring forward by June, Mr. Speaker. I've also asked the Violence Against Women Roundtable co-chairs to convene a special meeting on human trafficking. Our officials, Mr. Speaker, are in conversation with Manitoba. It's clear to all of us that information needs to be better coordinated and this work connects with the work of the inquiry on missing and murdered Indigenous women, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. There's more to be done. Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker and the crisis is now. We can take some actions now. We don't need to wait till June. In addition to the action items in my private members bill saving the girl next door, we know the fight for human trafficking is willfully underfunded. So I've heard time and time again that more financial support is needed on many fronts. As it stands, our police colleges have no routine training on human trafficking. Police units need adequate funding for dedicated officers and further training. And since 2012, Manitoba has committed to at least four times what this province does. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier immediately commit to financial resources that are unbearable to Manitoba's level and make human trafficking a priority? Thank you, Premier. I have already said that we are in conversation with Manitoba to understand what it is that they are doing. I'm sure that some of the measures in the private members bill that the member is bringing forward will be part of the conversation as we develop the strategy, Mr. Speaker. But it will only be part of it. I understand there are two or three things that are being suggested by the member. There's a much broader strategy that needs to be put in place, Mr. Speaker. We're going to do that. And we're going to do it. We've already begun that work. So when the member opposite says the crisis is now, we understand that. That's why the work has started now. And that strategy will come forward. But it will be a complete strategy, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the input of the member opposite. Thank you. And your question. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Economic Development Employment and Infrastructure Speaker. This government speaks about economic growth, and I think it's very important that it doesn't even realize that millions of people are being left behind. This government failed to meet its job creation goals last year, not once, but twice. They failed to create more than 32,000 jobs that they themselves had forecast in last year's budgets. For nearly two years, Windsor and Essex County has remained among the top regions with the highest unemployment rate in the country. And Windsor also has the highest unemployment rate in the country for the fifth straight month. Minister, my question, Speaker, my question is simple. What will it take before this government stands up for Ontarians instead of prioritizing its powerful insider friends? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the member for the question. And look, the fact of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, since the recession, we've created 608,000 new jobs full-time in this province. The challenge we have, though, Mr. Speaker, and the member is not completely out-based, the challenge we have is there a region in this country that we hit harder during the global recession than other regions. That's why, Mr. Speaker, we've created the Southwest Ontario Development Fund and the Eastern Ontario Development Fund. That's why, Mr. Speaker, we partner with companies many in the Windsor area to create much needed jobs there, in particular mostly with the auto sector. Many of those jobs being created in Southwestern Ontario. That's why we have very good relations with companies like Chrysler, Mr. Speaker, who just recently announced 1200 new jobs in the Chrysler plant there. Mr. Speaker, there's more work to do. We're up. Thank you. Message sent, I hope. Supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. Time and time again, and as we've just seen, this government toasts up the job well done, but Ontarians feel the service cuts. They feel the job losses and the increase in energy costs due to the sell-off of Hydro-1. People are struggling, and this government doesn't really seem to care. Just yesterday, Speaker, Bombardier announced that 430 jobs would be cut in Ontario. Up to 350 of them would be directly in Thunder Bay. In the past three months, another 400 people were laid off at Bombardier's Townsview plant in Toronto. These are not just numbers, Speaker. They are real people with real lives. They are families that are forced to start all over again. Minister, when will your government stand up for hardworking Ontarians and make meaningful change in their lives and in this province? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government has always and will continue to stand up for hardworking Ontarians, Mr. Speaker. That's why it's so important for us to make $1 million worth of investment in our infrastructure, something that your leader doesn't support, Mr. Speaker, but we'll continue to make those important investments. But we also will stand up for those communities that are struggling. And that's why, Mr. Speaker, we are proud to make a $3.5 million investment in London. Nearly $30 million in all private sector funds created with 1,400 jobs. That's why in Windsor, Mr. Speaker, we're proud to invest $4.5 million leveraging $22 million in jobs and creating or sustaining over $420. In Essex, your own riding, Mr. Speaker, why our Southwest Ontario Development Fund invested $1 million, leveraging $700 in creating, sustaining $513 million, Mr. Speaker. I point to these examples of many. I have a long list of examples where we have found a bat for the people of Windsor. Thank you. A new question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Energy. The issue that is important to my constituents of Ottawa, Orleans, concerns the environment and, by extension, energy conservation saving. During the campaign, I heard about this from many of my constituents who live in an older neighbourhood of Orleans. They told me they wanted government's action to help increase residential conservation effort and also help them lower their energy bills and save money. I know our government recognizes the importance of conserving energy and has been working to create a culture of conservation saving in the province. Every action across every sector will help us achieve RGHG reduction target. In the past couple weeks I've heard our government discussing a home energy retrofit plan that will help fund the Green Investment Fund. Mr. Speaker, through you to the Minister, could you please inform the House about this program? Good question. Thank you, Minister of Energy. Thank the Member for Ottawa or Orleans for the question. In addition to a wide range of existing residential and industrial conservation programs, Ontario is investing $100 billion more as part of our Green Investment Fund to help homeowners upgrade their homes, reduce their energy bills and cut greenhouse gas emissions. This investment is expected to enable audits and retrofits of up to 37,000 homes and save an equivalent of 1.6 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Funding will require actions by homeowners like replacing furnaces and water heaters and upgrading insulation that will save consumers money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Every dollar invested in natural gas efficiency has resulted in up to $4 in savings for natural gas consumers. Mr. Speaker, this investment will help homeowners save money while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we know climate change is not a distance track to Ontario. It is already costing the people of Ontario. It has created more unpredictable weather pattern which has devastated communities, damaged homes, businesses and crops and increased insurance rates. We know that we have to meet this challenge and that the good climate policy is good economic policy. That is why in the fall economic statement we introduced the green investment fund. It will demonstrate how proceeds from a cap and trade program will benefit our environment, our economy, our homes, businesses and communities. I know that recently there was an announcement through the green investment fund to help Ontarians with home energy retrofit. Can the minister please inform the minister? Thank you. Minister of environment and climate change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to make three points and I want to thank my friend from Orleans. One is the impact of this. We have been debating employment and the minister of economic development makes these points. What is the government doing? We have to retrofit the new building in Ontario over the next couple of decades. We are retrofitting them with better insulation, ground source heat pump, pollution free home heating and cooling systems, things that will lower electricity and energy costs for Ontarians over the coming decades. What is most important, can you imagine how many hundreds of thousands of people have to be employed to do that? What this means to our building companies? What we are embarking on will be one of the biggest job creation programs in the history of Ontario that will result in more modern buildings and more pollution. My final point is this. There isn't a final point that can be made. Thank you. New question from Renfrew. Thank you very much. My question is to the minister of community safety correctional services. I don't have to remind the minister of the terrible events that took place in my riding on September 22nd of last year. The murders of three women have been well documented and broadly discussed since then. On November 5th, my bill 130 passed second reading. My bill would have afforded greater protection to victims of abuse if and when their abusers were released from custody. At the time I asked for one of the most important questions in the history of Ontario. The minister of community safety correctional services. Can the minister tell me what progress has been made and when we might see some concrete action on this file? Thank you. Thank you very much. I want to thank the member from Renfrew for his work and advocacy on this very important issue. We all know what the minister of community safety correctional services is working and devastating for not only that community but for all Ontarians. I think the member knows that I have been engaged with him and he and I have had a few very constructive conversations. He also know that I support his bill. In fact, as the part of the work that my ministry is doing, the part of the work that the ministry is doing is this is very much in active consideration and part of the transformation planning is to look at our legislation, identify deficiencies, how can we strengthen it and I can assure the member opposite of his private member's bill is very much an active part of those discussions. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Since my bill passed second last week, I would like to thank the minister of community safety, the sister of Anastasia. They have all expressed a strong desire to see this enacted into law. While I respect that this is only one part of the many things we can do for women who find themselves in abusive situations, it is nevertheless an important piece. This afternoon, my colleague from Halliburton court, it is time that this government tackled abuse from every angle and takes all measures to ensure that the children of today grow up in a society that will simply not tolerate any form of abuse or violence against women. We need a commitment to action, not words. Can we count on the minister's commitment today? Very nice. Minister? Absolutely. Minister, I would like to thank the minister for being so active on this side of the house and not just talking about these issues but actually coming with concrete strategies to address them. I think, Speaker, the time for more task force and studies is not what is needed here. We know what some of the challenges are. Our probation and parole officers do incredible work in the front lines making sure that one of the things I have been doing is meeting with probation and parole officers directly to hear from them, from their front line experiences. I had an incredible meeting in Thunder Bay a few weeks ago where we had a very constructive discussion. I am in London, Ontario this afternoon and visiting the local probation and parole officer office and meeting with the officers there to understand their perspective on reintegrating individuals back into society and breaking the cycle of reoffends in our communities. Thank you, Mr Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Earlier this month we learned that ridership on the Union Pearson Express is not growing. It is in fact shrinking. President of the Union Pearson Express blamed Torontonians for not getting on board. But had Metrolinx bothered to blame Torontonians, it would have known long ago that what they want is an electrified public transit service that is affordable and is accessible. Why is Metrolinx blaming the people for low ridership on the Union Pearson Express instead of listening to us? Thank you very much Speaker and I thank the member from Parkdale High Park for the question as I said yesterday in the last few days, we understand that ridership numbers are lower than anticipated and lower than we'd like them to be, which means that we are all working hard both within this government and also Metrolinx working hard to make sure that we analyze the entire situation so that we can get ridership up. I did mention yesterday that this past weekend, family day weekend, the Up Express was free. We saw literally tens of thousands of riders here very well regardless speaker. Collectively we have to work hard to make sure we get those numbers up and we're looking at every aspect of the service to make sure that we produce that outcome. Thanks very much. There are ten times the number of riders on the Dufferin bus and it doesn't have its own marketing department. The Union Pearson Express was originally supposed to be run but the private sector understood that this business model wouldn't work. Despite this, the Minister of Transportation at the time insisted that the Air Rail League proceed as planned under the same flawed business model and ask Metrolinx to take over the project. That minister is now the Premier. Does the Premier now regret her decision to ignore all the warning signs, ignore the experts, ignore the people and push ahead with an expensive dirty diesel empty train. Thank you. Descended please. Descended please. Thank you. Minister. Thanks very much speaker. As I've said on many occasions what we have to remember above all else about the service speaker is that because of the leadership of this government, because of the leadership of this Premier, it was an infrastructure project that was delivered on time and on budget in time for Parapen and Parapen and Gink as promised speaker. Having said that speaker as I said in my earlier answer there is broad recognition by this government and by the team at Metrolinx that we have to work hard to make sure that we find every, that we use every available tool including looking at the fair structure to drive ridership up. Because speaker again, we know that when the people of this region, tourists or residents who live here speaker when they use the service, they like the service I should also mention it is part of our 10 year commitment to electrify the up express as we are electrifying that portion of the Kitchen Recorder speaker. And I would say that members like that, the member from York Southwest and the member from Davenport on this side have been strong advocates to make sure that we get this right and we will. Thank you. No question to the member from Cambridge. Thank you speaker. My question is for the Minister of Health and Long Term Care. Healthcare is a top priority for our government. As a registered nurse and former care coordinator for CCAC in Cambridge I was concerned by some of the things I heard from the opposition in the last few days about healthcare. Under the last NDP government, I was one of many nurses that were laid off because they slashed the home care budget. They also short sightedly cut nursing school and medical school places. The conservatives made further cuts, firing nurses closing thousands of hospital beds. Last year our government increased the healthcare budget by over $500 million to $50.8 billion in home and community care. The government announced a 5% increase to grow by over $750. Can the Minister please set the record straight regarding our government's investments in the healthcare sector? Thank you. Long Term Care. Mr. Speaker, thank you to the member from Cambridge for this very important question. I too have to admit I was alarmed by some of the accusations and innuendos coming from the official opposition and third party members with regards to our healthcare system. And we remember when the PCs were empowered 6,000 nurses of course were fired the hospitals were closed and in the last election we were reminded of their commitment to cut 100,000 jobs for the hospitals. You will get to government policy. Thank you. Excuse me. Leader of the third party. I'll take care of it. Let's get there please. Thousands of personal support workers, nurses and other hospital support staff would have lost their jobs. The truth is Mr. Speaker, we're far from making cuts. We're increasing funding every single year to the healthcare sector. We've invested more than as an example, 4.3 billion in the home and community sector this year alone. We've increased funding by a further 270 million. Our investments in community care will keep people healthier and away from hospitals in their communities where they want to be. Thank you. Thank you. Setting the record straight in this house is important. Thank you, minister. The increased investments that we're making in home and community care as well as in the hospital sector speak to the high priority that this government places on healthcare. Because of the government's commitment to healthcare, 24,000 more nurses are working in Ontario since taking office. A growth of 21.6% and over 10,800 registered nurses have been added. Nurses play such a valuable and important role in our healthcare system in Ontario. We know that one in five Ontarians will experience a mental health illness in their lifetime and that this is a critical issue here in Ontario. I know that since 2003 our government has increased annual funding for mental health and addictions to more than $3 billion. Can the minister please inform the house of the investments the government has made in mental health and addictions? Thank you. Thank you again to the member from Cambridge for this question. And Mr. Speaker, I can firmly say that our government is wholly and absolutely committed to increasing access to mental health care for Ontarians. Mr. Speaker, our government created a comprehensive mental health and addiction strategy to support Ontarians from childhood through to old age living with mental health and addictions challenges. And each year we're increasing funding to that sector. Last year we committed to increase funding to mental health and addictions to $48 million over the next three years. And we're also increasing our adaptability to meet the genuine needs of our patients. Just last month Mr. Speaker we announced that we're investing $16 million in 1,000 new supportive housing units across the province for individuals with mental health and addictions challenges. Thank you. My question is to the minister of energy. Minister, it's a known fact that farmers are facing a problem facing rural Ontarians. It concerns the future of family farming businesses. It's a known fact that farmers raising livestock are facing a major crisis that threatens the future of farming in Ontario. Ground current pollution is maiming and even killing their livestock. It's crippling their financial opportunities to live the Ontarian dream. They feed cities. They feed you and I, our families and our neighbors. Are you willing to enforce recommendations from the OEB's staff discussion paper of May 2008 that stipulates that LDCs cannot put current into the ground? Thomas Edison said it and who knows more than him? Speaker to the minister, are you willing to save the family farm? Good point. Minister of Agriculture, Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Mr. Speaker. Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Mr. Speaker, and I want to thank the honourable member for Chatham Kent Essex for asking the question this morning. I know there will be a debate this afternoon. He's bringing forward a private member's bill on this topic. A bill that was previously introduced in this house by a former colleague of ours Maria VanBomber, the member from Chatham Kent Essex I believe. I also have the advice of a professor from Trent University Dr. Magnus Haver who is in the members west gallery today. This is a very serious problem for livestock owners of the province of Ontario. We do know just recently that Hydro One and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture are working together to study this issue in detail and I'm pleased that some steps have already been taken to address it. I encourage of course livestock owners when I'm chatting to my friend Ralph Dietrich ahead of the dairy farmers this last night at the beef farmers of Ontario I had a discussion about this important topic. Thank you. Minister voltage won't kill but current does. We have to ensure that we're measuring the right thing. Minister my bill was directly inspired by the work of former liberal MPP Maria VanBomber from Lampton Kent Middlesex. She attempted to pass the bill back in 2006. All three parties spoke in support of the bill including yourself. I believe that a good idea for Ontarians shouldn't matter who presents it. This afternoon we will be joined by members from numerous farming associations that frankly really don't care whose names on the bill they just want to see action now. So speaker to the minister will you keep the spirit of cooperation alive and pledge of support Bill 161 the elimination of ground current pollution. Thank you. Mr. Speaker I want to thank the member for his supplementary request today and I can assure him the government caucus will be supporting his bill this afternoon. Here. Because it's a very reasonable bill and we're very reasonable people on this side of the chamber. Mr. Speaker I just want to talk about the pilot that's coming up with the OAA. We're making progress on this. The pilot is looking at to identify and assess mitigation incidents for stray voltage occurring. Assessing alternative approaches to testing look broadly at how electrical systems contribute to current and voltage on farms and address how standards of procedures apply. In fact Mr. Speaker we're doing a pilot in Little Britain Ontario in the riding of Haliburton Corthill Lake Sprock the member right here. Thank you. Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. President. My question is for the premier. Today hundreds of people from Ontario are at Queen's Park to talk about the slowness of the government in the creation of a francophone university. After months of consulting francophones of all regions in Ontario the result is very clear we want a French language university for francophones. The final document was given to the premier on the 18th of February 2015. It's a year ago. Will the premier explain why she still hasn't put in place this committee for a francophone university. Thank you for this question. It is very important for me to have a program for francophone students in French in the whole of the province and I would like to say I have talked with the students and I have told them that it is a priority for me to have access to all study programs in French if a student wants this option. Is it necessary to have a building? I don't know I cannot say right now. If we have a building in this or that community do we have to have a building in another community? I don't know so we have to to consult the people and work with the communities. It is very important as I have said students must be able to access all programs in French in post-secondary education. Thank you to the premier. 611,500 students in the province do not have access to the programs they want and two thousands are already registered for this francophone university. We have worked with schools and with school boards we now need this francophone university. We have consulted people, we have written reports and the francophone community is united. They do want this French language university and I have to say that the legislative assembly has voted in favor of bill 104 for the creation of this university when with this transitory committee will be put in place. The minister of francophone affair it is a pleasure for me to reply to this question because we have been working on this for a very long time and the premier has asked this committee and the committee will soon table their report we are very interested in seeing what they have to say. However I will not take any advice from that government when they were in power they established a college that did not give us nothing, it cost millions of dollars Ontarians had to pay for this and it did not give us anything the government which at the time which is now the opposition party closed it and we could not say anything at the time because it was a really bad structure so we want the next post secondary institution in Ontario to be built on a solid base and we wanted to go on for a long time No question, a member from October North Thank you Mr. Libre My question is for the Minister of Education In Ontario schools benefits when we have parents involved excited and engaged and contributing in my own writing in Vittobicoke North I have seen how good schools can graduate up to become great schools by the increased engagement of parents Psychological and sociological research demonstrates that there is a positive link between student achievement and parents involvement, expectations and guidance. Schools in my own writing speaker have benefited from some of the more than 60 million dollars we have invested it since 2006 to support parent engagement My question is this Minister, this very week you announced grant applications for the 2016 2017 school year which are now open Can you please tell this house more about what this means for Ontario students and families Minister of Education Yes, thank you speaker and thank you to the member for the question Ontario is helping parents get more involved in their children's education by supporting local parent led projects that encourage student learning and promote well-being In the 2015-16 school year the province funded more than 2200 projects that helped identify barriers to parent engagement and found local solutions to help more parents be engaged in their children's learning In fact since 2006 speaker the government has awarded over 17,000 grants to school councils and over 680 regional or provincial grants a total investment of over 27 million dollars to parent led projects Parent reaching out grants that illustrates that parents are working to find local solutions to enhance parent engagement Thank you Thank you Minister Minister for your response Ground benefits for example, Albion Heights Junior Middle School, Clairvue Junior School and in fact 22 schools in my writing have benefited from these particular grants and given the knowledge-based economy of tomorrow I believe that the parent reaching out grants are a key part of Ontario's family engagement strategy and this is embedded throughout the goals of our renewed vision for education in Ontario Minister would you please elaborate on what projects are included and how you envision they will benefit children's education in Ontario Thank you Minister The parent reaching out grant includes funding for parent involvement committees and school councils and for local projects like family math nights resources to welcome parents who are new to Ontario to learn about the Ontario education system a whole host of things for example, some of the projects that parents have chosen we help parents with resources to help them support their children's learning information on topics like bullying child care, math homework the new health and phys ed curriculum, we've made a lot of parent resources available a lot of resources around online social networking safety, how to be safe on the internet we know that when parents are engaged their children do better and that's why we are encouraging parents to get involved in their children's education New question Member from Thorne Hill Thank you very much Mr. Speaker My question is to the Minister of Government and Consumer Services Mr. Speaker, last year over 1,000 counterfeit accessible parking permits were confiscated in Toronto, up by 28% in just one year Apparently motorists are able to easily access or create these fake permits This government's response was to tighten up security on newly issued permits only Mr. Speaker, I would like the Minister to explain how barcodes on new permits will help to alleviate fraud since the old permits which are easily counterfeited are still accepted until they expire Thank you Minister of Government and Consumer Services Thank you Mr. Speaker and I appreciate the question I think the member knows full well the importance of these permits to Ontarians and to those who need them and need access to these spaces in Ontario The last thing we want to see is anyone counterfeiting or fraudulently using these types of permits in Ontario We think that is a despicable practice for somebody to fraudulently take a permit and take a spot or a space from someone who has a disability or is in need to have that type of access So, Mr. Speaker, on this side of the house we're concerned about that issue we're taking steps within our government to tighten up the security of these permits to make them tougher to counterfeit and that was the purpose of the announcement That's what we're aiming to do, Speaker We're going to continue the accessibility community to continue to make these permits stronger for Ontarians and to reduce fraud that's out there in the province Thank you Mr. Supplementary Thank you very much and my question really didn't address the fact that we're trying to tighten up security My question is why aren't we tightening up security on the existing permits and not just waiting for those permits to expire And Mr. Speaker, thousands of Ontarians we know struggle with mobility issues Many face additional burdens when accessible parking is taken up by these fraudsters When designated spots are unavailable motorists with permits are sometimes allowed to park in no parking or no stopping zones Finally, our accessible parking rules vary from municipality to municipality resulting in much confusion For example, Thornhill resident Michelle Zalden received a ticket in the city of Vaughan for parking with a permit in an area that's acceptable in Toronto Mr. Speaker, I'd like to know if the minister plans to streamline accessible parking regulations so that Ontario residents struggling with mobility challenges don't need to carry with them a copy of every municipality's parking regulations Thank you, Mr. Speaker I appreciate the supplementary question and as the member knows we've taken a number of steps to increase the security measures, increase fines related to this and I'm certainly happy to take any suggestions that the member may have back to the ministry to review them to work with the member opposite to continue to raise the standard in how we protect consumers and those individuals whose disability needs in Ontario and I should remind the member and I think the member knows that not all of these disabilities and individuals are obvious disabilities or they're visible disabilities and so we need to make sure that the permits are provided for individuals who need them in Ontario I'm committed to working with the member opposite to do all that we can to strengthen these provisions for individuals who need these permits, thank you Thank you Minister of Agriculture rural affairs and food on a point of order Mr. Speaker, I just want to remind everybody that the Ontario Agricultural Sustainability Coalition is having a reception at room 230 and recommend all members to drop by Thank you, the member from Niagara West Lambert Thank you, Speaker I want to call members attention to special guests who are members having lunch with Shirley, we're joined by Assemblyman Walter Mosley he's a Democratic Assemblyman representing Brooklyn with the state of New York and of course, a very familiar face as well, he's joined by Avi Ben-Lolo the executive director of the Simon Wiesendahl Foundation Thank you, Speaker Welcome Welcome to the legislature We have a deferred vote on the motion to second reading of bill 119 and act to amend the Person of Health Information Protection Act 2004 to make certain related amendments and to repeal and replace the quality of your information protection act 2004 Call on the members, this will be a five minute bell Would all members, please take their seats All members, please take your seats On September the 16th, 2015 Mr. Hoskin moved second reading of bill 119 All those in favour, please rise one at a time and be recognized by the clerk Mr. Hoskins Mr. Nackley Mr. Shurelli Mr. Suza Mr. Matthews Mr. Duga Mr. McCharles Mr. Tukar Mr. Baradnetti Mr. Dillon Mr. Orzetti Mr. McMeacon Mr. Murray Mr. Chan Mr. Moriti Mr. Coteau Mr. Lille Mr. Albanaise Mr. Dixon Mr. Crack Mr. Sergio Mr. Moro Mr. Dalduca Mr. Wong Mr. Fraser Mr. Anderson Mr. Baker Mr. Ballard Mrs. Hogarth Mrs. Cuala Mrs. McGarry Mrs. Nidoo Harris Mr. Pot Mr. Renaldi Mr. Renil Mr. Yurek Mr. Arnott Mr. Wilson Mr. Jones Mr. Brown Mr. Clark Mr. Fidelli Mr. Yacobusky Mr. Miller Perry Sound Mascoka Mr. Scott Mr. Smith Mr. Nicholas Mr. Marteau Mr. Singh Mr. Horvath Mr. Vantah Mr. DeNovo Mr. Tabbas Mr. Miller Hamilton Estoni Cree Ms. Sattler Ms. Taylor Ms. Armstrong Ms. Forster Ms. Gretzky Ms. French All those opposed, please rise for the time being recognized by the clerk. The ayes are 93, the nays are 0. The ayes being 93, the nays being 0. Declare the motion. Carried. Second reading of the bill. Do as you have lectured. Pro-je-de-loire. Shall the bill be ordered for third reading? Minister of Health, long-term care. Candy, please. Carried. Member from Nicobelt on a point of order. Morning. As I was talking to the motion concurrence and supply, I said 69 layoff in Windsor. It was 169 nurses being laid off in Windsor. I made a mistake. Minister of Economic Development Employment and Infrastructure. Just a record correction Mr. Speaker. At one point I think I meant to say 608,000 net new jobs created since the recession for some reason. I think I said 280,000 which wasn't even close. That's why the premier was looking at me funny Mr. Speaker. Thank you. And on that note I do want to bring to everyone's attention that when you correct the record you only correct the record. In the last little while until today, and I'm glad it happened today the way it did, there were people making editorials or making comment or debate. That's not the purpose of correcting one's record. So we will stay focused on correcting one's record. There are no further deferred votes. This house stands recess until 1 p.m. this afternoon.