 It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the member for London West. Thank you very much speaker. My question is to the Premier. Speaker yesterday the Premier announced that pharmacies will start testing people with COVID symptoms as well as close contacts of people who are COVID positive. While this announcement might be great for shoppers and for corporate bottom lines, everyday Ontarians are worried. pharmacies need to be safe for seniors, immunocompromised people and parents of unvaccinated kids who all deserve to get their prescriptions and their flu shots without fear of being exposed to COVID. Sending symptomatic people who may have COVID into a pharmacy is a bad idea. Speaker, will the Premier admit that this is the wrong move and pause this new program? To reply, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Thank you to the member opposite for the question. I can assure the member and the people of Ontario that pharmacies will continue to be safe. We are expanding testing for both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals in our pharmacies. This has been recommended by Dr. Moore, our Chief Medical Officer of Health and his Medical Experts of Public Health Ontario. And I can assure the member that the pharmacies, as they always have, will be following strict infection prevention and control measures. But we need to make sure that we have testing venues open for people, especially with the holidays approaching. As we're opening up more of Ontario, there may be more people that need to be tested. Pharmacies have been trusted partners in this and I'm sure they will do this with their usual level of precaution and safety to make sure that everyone is safe that enters the pharmacy. Thank you, Speaker. I can tell the Minister that not all medical experts agree that this is a good decision. The Premier said that he would never go ahead with COVID measures that weren't in people's best health interests. That has clearly, however, not been the case in this pandemic. The Premier promised to build an iron ring around long-term care, but those protections were never put in place. He closed playgrounds for children last spring. He's constantly delayed taking decisive action, so much so that ICUs have filled up and thousands of surgeries were postponed. Speaker, can the Premier tell Ontarians why we are shifting gears now to COVID testing and pharmacies and how he can justify this decision? Thank you. Well, I can assure the member opposite that all participating pharmacies are expected to implement and follow strict infection prevention and control measures to protect staff, patients and other customers, of course, against COVID-19. And it's important, especially with the holidays approaching, because not everyone has an assessment facility or another facility to go for testing. We need to make sure that there are going to be convenient places to go and that all of the important infection measures will be followed. So we know that in rural Ontario, northern Ontario especially, this is a problem for assessment facilities, but not for pharmacies. Most organizations and most towns have pharmacies available. But it's important to remember that the infection prevention and control measures that we've always followed, like a dedicated space to perform specimen collection, physical distancing, time between appointments to allow cleaning and to avoid lineups, and wearing masks inside pharmacies. All of these precautions will be taken to make sure that everyone is healthy and safe. We all know where this Premier normally gets his advice from big corporate lobbyists and conservative party insiders. Always. These are the Premier's buddies who gave him, for example, the advice to put big box stores instead of small businesses. They also wanted him to pave over wetlands for even more warehouses. Speaker, Ontarians deserve to have safe pharmacies and people with COVID symptoms deserve to get tested in facilities that are purposefully designed with proper infection prevention and control protections. Will the Premier tell us which of his buddies asked him to change the rules in ways that could jeopardize the health of Ontarians? Minister of Health. Our chief measure since the beginning of this pandemic has been to protect the health and safety of Ontarians. That continues to be the case. And the only buddy that we have received information from is our chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kierke. That's the epidemiologists. They know what's safe and they have indicated that this is going to be safe. There are going to be strict measures, which I've already indicated. There's also going to require signage outside the pharmacy and an online listing of participating pharmacies. This will be safe. This needs to be something that is open for everyone in Ontario who feels that they have some symptoms they need to be tested and it will be done with the usual precautions and safety that pharmacies have always used throughout this. They have been major partners with us in terms of testing, in terms of vaccination, in terms of flu vaccinations that are coming forward. They have been great partners in the work that we're doing, but the only advice that we receive on what we should be doing comes from Dr. Moore and the doctors who are advising him. Question. The member for University Rosedale. My colleagues here know exactly why families and children do not have a childcare deal. The Premier himself is involved. It's no wonder we are the last province without affordable childcare for families because this government doesn't want to make a deal to lower childcare fees. This government doesn't want to make a deal to provide more high quality and affordable childcare spaces. It doesn't want to make a deal to ensure better wages and training for staff and it doesn't want to make a deal to ensure women can keep working and grow our economy. So my question is to the Premier. What about the federal childcare offer is the Premier saying no to? Mr. Education. Mr. Speaker, we want a fair deal for Ontario families. What we oppose, what we say no to, is a program that never gets to $10 a day, which is the commitment the federal Liberals made to the people of this province. And we insist as progressive Conservatives that they deliver on their commitment for $10 for all families in this province. In the absence of getting to $10, it is not a deal that we believe is in the interest of families because they're short changing our province. We know that because at best, at maturity in year five, the program gets at $21. How is it that the NDP and the Liberals are comfortable with Ontarians paying more than every province east and west of us? We want to get that deal. We support affordable childcare. It's why this government announced a plan to reduce childcare costs opposed by the NDP and opposed by the Liberals. We're going to continue to work with the federal government to land a deal that reduces prices, that ensures flexibility, and is sustainable for decades to come. Supplementary? Back to the Premier. What is very clear is that Ontario families today pay the highest childcare fees in the country east and west of us right now. That's the no-deal situation we have right now. One of the biggest barriers to childcare is how unaffordable it is. For many families, it's even more expensive than a mortgage. Building affordable $10 a day childcare would make a huge difference for families. If we had affordable childcare now, families could afford better housing and food, instead of maxing out their credit card every month. Parents in other provinces have said it's been life changing. BC and Alberta's fees will fall next year, and Quebec knows the program pays for itself with a great return on every dollar invested. My question to the Premier is when will this government give us affordable $10 a day high-quality non-profit and public childcare? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the member opposite for the question. We do agree childcare is too expensive in this province. It was an inherited legacy of the former Liberal government. We're under the Daldeca Win Liberals. Childcare rose by 40% above the national average. Unacceptable. It's why in the first budget of this government, we introduced a childcare tax grant. It's why the Minister of Finance and the Premier enriched it in the last budget. We know there's more to do. The feds contribute 2.5%. Obviously, they should be doing much, much more. We're working with the federal government to make the case like Quebec, which member opposite cited, who had a program in place and was fully supported and subsidized accordingly with no strings attached. We want the same type of deal for Ontario's program for four and five-year-olds, for a quarter of a million children that have the best quality care in schools led by a teacher and an EC. We want that recognized. We don't want to be penalized in this province for doing more than the rest of the federation. We want that recognized. We want a fair program, and we want something that's going to endure the test of time, a program that reduces fees for decades to come. Final floor, Premier. Thank you. Back to the Premier. It is important to also recognize that under this Ontario government's three-year tenure, childcare fees have gone up, not down. Yesterday, Carolyn Ferns from the Ontario Coalition for Better Childcare said it extremely clearly. She said parents don't want to hear any more excuses from this Premier or from this Minister of Education because it is very clear kindergarten is not childcare. The money the federal government has put on the table was never meant to pay for kindergarten. It's meant to pay for Ontario families to get more help for childcare. All we have been hearing from this government are delays and distractions from what is really a very important and critical question. Will this Premier stop negotiating in the media and get Ontario families $10 a day childcare now? Minister of Education. Thank you, Speaker. We agree that childcare is too expensive. It rose by 40% in the former Liberal government, and there's much to do in this respect. It's why we're working with the federal government to get a deal, a good deal, a fair deal for the people of this province. As provincial legislators, our duty for Ontario families, for children, to the national government and suggests that the program they put in place is insufficient, is not flexible, and ultimately under no scenario. Year one nor year five gets us a $10 a day. That's why we're standing up with the intent of landing a deal that is better. We would hope every member of this House would agree that we should be able to extract a better deal for the people of this province. In fact, you mentioned a quote from one speaker. I want to note to the member that the Executive Director of the Association of Ontario said and I quote, the wrong deal for Ontario could lead families with fewer licensed childcare spaces and paying much, much more for them. We're going to stay at the table, get a good deal that reduces costs and ensure childcare is sustainable for decades to come. Question number for Gavin. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This question is for the Premier. Speaker, we're just weeks away now from an approval for the COVID-19 vaccine for five to 11-year-olds. We're going to go through the plan. The science table said we need a clear information campaign, school-based clinics, and an equity-based strategy to reach those at-risk communities. But we haven't seen any of this from this government. Nothing, nothing. Meanwhile, provincial data show that vaccination rates for the 12 to 17-year-old group are lagging behind. Speaker, we cannot afford to get this wrong. When will the Minister stop the kids the protection of a vaccine? Minister of Health. Thank you. Well, I thank them ever very much for the question. In fact, a great deal of work has already been done on the vaccination of children aged five to 11 because we anticipate that there will be approval very soon from Health Canada. And the vaccines are all ready to go and we are ready to provide them. We have been working. Dr. Moore and his team have been working with their 34 local medical officers to provide a variety of vaccines within their communities. This information will be available very shortly to parents because I do understand that parents want to know what's going to be happening in their local geographic area. We do know that parents of young children that are five to approximately seven years of age would like their children to be vaccinated either by their family, physician or pediatrician, whereas for older children vaccinated perhaps at pharmacies or at larger vaccination clinics or perhaps pop-up clinics. There is a detailed plan in place for each geographic area. That is going to be forthcoming very soon to answer parents' questions. Supplementary questions. Premier, back to actually Minister, I'll send this back to the minister. The minister says that they're ready to deliver this vaccine plan. We'll tell that to the parents who don't know where to register their kids yet. Public health units are doing great work, but the government is dithering and dathering and delaying and anti-vax activists are filling that silence. We're risking losing people to misinformation. Families in British Columbia on the other hand have been able to pre-register their kids since early October giving them incredible peace of mind and early information to prepare themselves and their children. As of last week over 70,000 children in British Columbia had pre-registered for the shot. Where are we? Speaker, why won't the government take this simple step and get things moving so we can all get out of this pandemic sooner? Government side will come to order. Minister of Health will reply. In fact, we are ready to go. In a very good state of readiness we have had detailed discussions with the local medical officers of health and the public health community to make sure that we're ready to do more over the last several months to be prepared because this isn't a simple matter. We want to make sure that we can prioritize to the 5 to 7 year olds. We also need to make sure that we 5 to 11 year olds, pardon me, we also need to make sure that we're able to do the third shots for people who are over 70 immunocompromised people and the rest of it. All of this is organized. We want to make sure that we are ready to register their children making appointments with their family doctors because the plan is going to be different in each of those units depending on where they are whether a school is going to be the more convenient locations to vaccinate children, not during school hours but when their parents can be with them. We have a plan. It is going to be communicated very shortly and is going to be provided in due course for parents to be able to be ready to move immediately on this. Thank you. The next question, the member for Mississauga Thank you very much, Speaker. My question today is to the Honourable Minister of Infrastructure. For far too long, Ontario's small and larger rural and northern communities have been struggling to address their critical infrastructure needs that would provide residents with safe, modernized and accessible services. The Liberals knew about these concerns for 15 years and did absolutely nothing to address them. The most these communities ever got from the past government was an acknowledgement that an infrastructure backlog existed and some proposed additional funding as a last-minute attempt to gain traction in the last provincial election. Speaker, Ontarians deserve a government that listens to these communities and now more than ever they need a government that says yes instead of a chorus of no. So to the Minister, through you Speaker, what is the government's plan to support Ontario's small, rural and northern communities to address these critical infrastructure backlogs? Minister of Infrastructure to respond. Etienne, thank you to the member for raising this very important issue. I know that everyone in this chamber can agree that communities are the heartbeat of this province. Our government recognizes this and that's why we're working with our municipal partners and our infrastructure backlog. The member is absolutely correct in saying our government is committed to building Ontario. This commitment is emphasized in our recent fall economic statement where we announced an additional one billion over the next five years for our 424 small, rural and northern communities. That's an additional 200 million per year, which will go a long way in supporting these communities repair, rebuild roads, bridges, water and wastewater treatment plants. Our government is saying yes to new improved hospitals, yes to new improved long-term care facilities, yes to building highways and public transit, and yes to helping our municipal partners address their infrastructure needs. Thank you Minister for your response and I couldn't agree more. I know this funding will go a long way for the residents of Mississauga and communities across the province. Even the Ontario Chamber of Commerce called on the previous Liberal government in 2016 nearly two years before the 2018 provincial election, asking them to step up and start investing in vital infrastructure projects to support building and repairing transit, roads and bridges throughout the province. The Liberal government either didn't hear these calls or just didn't care enough to support the crucial infrastructure that the people of Ontario needed and deserved. So Speaker through you to the Minister of Infrastructure, what is our government doing to support communities like Mississauga and address our critical infrastructure needs? Minister of Infrastructure I want to thank the very hardworking member from Mississauga for a question Mr. Speaker, I can assure the people of Ontario that our government is taking action to support communities across the province. From Susie Marie to Ottawa we are prioritizing investments in vital infrastructure. Through increased OSA funding beginning in 2022 eligible communities will see their minimum annual funding go from 50,000 to 100,000. On top of this Mr. Speaker our government continues to support critical infrastructure investments in urban settings such as building hospitals in Brampton and in Ottawa building long-term care homes faster than ever before in Ajax in Toronto and in Mississauga where the demand is the greatest. Building subways in the City of Toronto and in York Region and building new schools in Oshawa and in Pickering collectively we are spending over $145 billion over the next decade to ensure Ontarians are healthy Ontarians are strong and our province is more resilient in the future. The next question member for Hamilton West and my question is to the premier the premier's low wage policies and lack of action to tackle the affordability crisis are making things harder for every Ontarian but that's not all that this government is doing to make things worse. A new article by this Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative Reports that for the next two years cuts in the form of spending shortfalls will take a bite out of healthcare. The CCPA projects that compared to what's actually needed just to maintain current healthcare services which we all know are already lacking the healthcare sector will be short $3 billion. After all, our province has gone through in this pandemic. Why is this government short changing our healthcare system by $3 billion? Thank you very much speaker and thank you to the member for the question in fact what's happened is we've put massive amounts of money into our healthcare system first of all hundreds of millions of dollars in order to make sure that we can first of all keep the lights on secondly that we can deal with the effects of COVID with the testing with the vaccinations with all keeping the assessment centres open all of the rest we've put over half a billion dollars into making sure that we can keep going with the surgeries that had to be postponed during COVID when we had vast numbers of people in intensive care we've created 3,000 more hospital beds as a result this happens because we are investing in our healthcare system we know we need to be ready for people for COVID and after COVID because we're facing a huge mental health need across the province as well so rather than lessening our investitures in healthcare we're increasing them significantly thank you something I could question speaker from the minister of health saying that their goal is just to keep the lights on in hospitals is not very reassuring at all because people's experience are so much worse thousands of patients are still waiting for surgery and diagnostic services but with projected shortcomings Ontarians will face even longer waits and more delays for the healthcare procedures that they need and that they deserve this government to cut corners and shortchange our healthcare system and get people the knee surgeries, the cancer screenings that they need to live a healthy life the CCPA says this poor healthcare planning will result in real cuts to public services at the level of individuals and families and people are feeling those cuts already why would this premier introduce a fall economic statement with painful cuts to healthcare especially after a global pandemic minister of health thank you speaker there are two things that I would like to clarify first is what I said was that hospitals need to have these increases to keep the lights on and to do the work that they need to do not just to keep the lights on there's a big difference there and secondly it also needs to be noted that we have increased our funding by hundreds of millions of dollars into healthcare particularly dealing with the issue that the premier just mentioned in order to continue with the surgeries and procedures that were postponed during COVID we've put over half a billion dollars into our hospitals to allow them to do that we've also launched a surgical innovation fund of over 30 million dollars to allow individual hospitals to make some small changes to what they're doing so that they can increase those surgeries increase those procedures we want to make sure that we take care of the health and safety of all Ontarians we want to make sure that we take care of the health and safety of all Ontarians in Ontario not I shouldn't say not just the people with COVID that's very important but with everyone else too because I know that many people are waiting for hip and knee replacements it's very painful for them but they've been waiting long enough we are there to protect the health and safety of all Ontarians next question I've been on the intervention month in Ontario about a year ago I stood in this chamber to call attention to the disturbing actions of a member of Ottawa City Council towards women who he worked with for many years and harassed for many years the City of Ottawa's integrity commissioners found that the councillor had committed inappropriate and sexually charged behaviour in the workplace he stated that these are incomprehensible incidents of harassment now the city took the strongest measures possible which was to suspend his pay for 450 days he just started getting paid again last weekend but during that time he continued to build his pension he continued and he will receive a severance if he chooses not to run in next fall or loses his reelection any other Ontario resident would have lost their job for what this member of City Council did in the workplace my bill, bill 10 stopping harassment and abuse by local leaders is on the order paper right now and would provide a solution to this problem we're running out of time to get the legislation passed will the government commit to supporting bill 10 the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Thanks Speaker through you to the honourable member our government has been absolutely clear that we will not tolerate workplace harassment or discrimination of any type Heads of council and members of council need to carry out their duties in an ethical and responsible manner and I want to thank the honourable member for his advice and feedback as part of our consultation the member for Niagara Centre and I want to acknowledge the work that Minister Dunlop and Minister McKenna has done as part of the consultation AMO has given us very valuable feedback on this file we take this file very seriously as we move forward and I'll have more to say in the coming weeks on the matter. Thank you Speaker Supplementary Thank you Mr. Speaker unfortunately this egregious behaviour isn't limited to Ottawa there are similar cases in Brampton and in Berry today as we speak and undoubtedly Mr. Speaker throughout history there have been many many more as I understand it AMO supports stronger integrity measures including measures that would allow for the removal of an elected municipal official from office for such behaviours municipalities facing these circumstances have exhausted the tools at their disposal they can withdraw pay that's it the women in Ottawa who have come forward have shown great courage and resilience to share their stories and help shed light as I mentioned before Mr. Speaker we are running out of time to get legislation passed if the government won't support bill 10 when will they introduce their own legislation so we can finally address this issue Mr. Mr. Speaker I want to thank the member for the question and I concur the women that have come forward have been very brave and very courageous and we take their comments about what happened very very seriously the member opposite also talked about the association of municipalities of Ontario again I want to thank them they've recommended increased financial penalties suspension of members for certain violations removal from office in certain circumstances and better training and standards for integrity commissioners and I think those recommendations are very very valuable we appreciate all of the feedback that the ministers heard during the consultation but I want to make the house very clear on our approach going forward we will ensure that our municipal partners have the resources and the tools that they need to foster safe and respectful workplaces thank you for the question next question the member for Whitby thank you speaker my question is for the minister of municipal affairs and housing speaker like all members of this house I took the time this past remembrance day to reflect upon the sacrifices made by the brave men and women who served our country recently speaker I heard a shocking statistic it's estimated that there could be as many as 5000 military veterans in Canada experiencing homelessness this is far too many speaker veterans not only deserve our respect but they also deserve the support of our government speaker can the minister please tell us what the government is doing to address this issue and honor our veterans next question thanks speaker and I want to thank the member for his tireless work and advocacy for our veterans veterans who stepped up to serve our country deserve a place to call home and that's why I was so pleased to be in Kingston last week with Kingston Mayor Brian Patterson and homes for heroes as we announced that our government will be providing up to $2 million to help build up to 25 tiny homes as part of a veterans village for military veterans experiencing homelessness the province is working as I said in partnership with the city of Kingston and with the homes for heroes foundation to convert a portion of the Kingston provincial campus into that veterans village each veterans village will be constructed from a prefabricated modular housing system every tiny home is going to have transitional housing programs for one veteran it's a self-contained unit that includes a kitchen a living room a bathroom and a sleeping area a speaker this is an exciting project as we support our veterans and I'll have more to say in the supplementary question thank you speaker and thank you to the minister for his response material is a debt of gratitude to our veteran speaker and our government believes that everyone especially those whose lives have been in the service of others should have a place to call home speaker as the minister mentioned he made a minister zoning owner on this site could the minister please tell us more about how he's able to use this tool to help move this project forward thank you speaker I certainly want to echo the words of the member for Whitby these men and women were there when we needed them and now it's our turn to provide the support that they need to speed up the process the member is correct I issued a minister zoning order on November 10th to help move this project forward the MZO will allow for residential and complimentary uses such as the use of a community hall on the site which is going to serve as a resource center and be available for the veterans tenants for social gatherings and very important peer to peer support without this MZO speaker it would take years for this site to be rezoned through the zoning bylaw amendment process and for the construction of the veterans village to begin speaker the CEO commented that in all the projects that he's worked on this project in Kingston has moved forward the fastest our government is getting shovels in the ground to help these veterans have a better and brighter future and to provide this wonderful project for them so thank you again for the question thank you the next question the member for Toronto Centre thank you speaker my questions for the Premier people in downtown Toronto who live on social assistance feel forgotten by this government I recently heard from a constituent that has been struggling with food and security for years Cali is pre-diabatic and requires a special diet but ODSP special diet allowance isn't keeping pace with the skyrocketing price of food in our community she doesn't understand why this government refuses to increase social assistance rates to keep paced with the cost of living in Ontario Premier why is your government refusing to help people like Cali in my community who are struggling to afford the bare food and rent Mr children community and social services thank you speaker and thank you to the member for that important question in fact our government has increased the funding for OW and ODSP we have added one billion dollars for social services relief funding during a very very difficult time and we understand the challenges related to that this service program has had challenges and we acknowledge that and we are the really the first government to address this not only during a 100 year pandemic with COVID-19 supports but also ongoing supports we know that the food security is a very important issue and we've added funding for that and more services for that so this is an ongoing issue we are really putting up the centre of everything we do the vulnerable populations that we serve to get them the vital social services that they need we are putting people at the centre of our transformation and this is something that we will continue to do put the dollars where they need to be to support our vulnerable populations thank you thank you respectfully back to the minister $100 a month that was a temporary increase to ODSP and OW during COVID a temporary increase is not a permanent increase to social assistance rates that are going to allow us to food in our community it's not news that social assistance rates have been criminally low in this province for decades let's not forget it was a former Conservative Premier Mike Harris that slashed social assistance rates in half in the mid 90s my family lived on social assistance in the mid 90s I remember those cuts and it was devastating I knew hunger as a child because of the former Conservative Government and things have not gotten better because the 15 years that the Liberals had after them they did nothing they sat on their hands they did not raise the rates and they let constituents like Cali continue to suffer so my question back to the Premier is yes or no will you permanently increase the rates of OW and ODSP today so that constituents like Cali can afford to eat Mr. Children's Committee thank you and again this is such an important area and that's why our government is supporting our most vulnerable populations and in fact if we look at not only the billion dollars with the SSRF but the increase that when we first started we have looked at the food security issue the food bank support $750,000 which we $750,000,000 which we upped to $1 billion and we acknowledge that the previous government do what it needed to do and that's why this government is $8 million in funding for feed Ontario distributing pre-packaged hampers to support the really important work that our food banks do and the volunteers there and I really want to thank them as well this is the student nutrition programs across the province have seen increased funding so that they can continue to deliver critical services for children we are responding to the pandemic and we are being neglected by the previous government over many years as you have mentioned and we will continue to get the vital social services to our most vulnerable populations as we have been doing and we will continue to do that thank you very much next question from the member for York Centre my question is to the Minister of Health almost 20 months ago to this day the premier told us that we need two weeks to flatten the curve Ontarians have endured a horrific 20 month period with lockdowns and school closures they are now subjected to passports segregation and an atmosphere where ordinary Canadians are subjected to hate because of this government's fear mongering almost 90% of us are vaccinated but last Thursday Dr. Juni, head of the Ontario Science Table appeared on CTV and said that we need two weeks to flatten the curve my question to the Minister of Health does she agree with the science table that we need two weeks to flatten the curve and what does the science tables position tell us about the policy of destruction caused by this government over the last 20 months the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health thank you very much Speaker and first I would say that we have had to take the steps that we have taken in order to protect the health and safety of the people of Ontario this is something, this is a pandemic this is something that happens hopefully only once every 100 years we are taking a very cautious approach to easing back to opening up our economy we have issued our recovery plan that takes a very cautious incremental approach to make sure that we don't have to go back again the people of Ontario cannot deal with another lockdown both in terms of their social sense but also our economy can't deal with another lockdown that's why we are being very cautious and doing things in a very careful manner we are taking the time it takes two weeks to understand the effect of a change that you make and so that is why we have to cautiously approach this every change that we make make sure we have that two weeks to take place so that we can adjust if we need to but the last thing we want is another lockdown we want to keep moving Ontario forward that's what the people of Ontario thank you very much a supplementary question Speaker visiting a loved one at a hospital to give them comfort and support to call a nurse or a doctor when the patient has a need or pray by their bedside when they are about to pass is a sacred right but now several Ontario hospitals deny family members visitation because of their medical status because they did not take medication that the government wants everyone to take Speaker this is cruel and inhumane it's a new law in the never ending series of laws and evil imposed on Ontarians quote for their safety on behalf of these patients and these families I ask the Minister of Health will she put an end to this inhumane cruelty and prohibit hospitals from denying visitation to families and loved ones Minister of Health thank you very much well first let me say to the member opposite the hospitals are able to make their own policies they're run by their own independent board of directors that's not something that the Ministry of Health directs in some cases that's necessary particularly I would say pediatric hospitals where most of the children thus far have not been able to be vaccinated we hope that will change soon and we're awaiting Health Canada's response at 5 to 11 year olds can receive the vaccine but in terms of taking medication that people don't want to take that's to save people's lives I don't understand why the member doesn't understand that speaker this is important to protect people to save their lives while we still know that people who've been doubly vaccinated can still contract COVID it's very unlikely that they will be hospitalized and even more unlikely that they will be intensive care and even more unlikely that they will die we want to save people's lives in Ontario that is my responsibility as Minister of Health and one that I'm going to continue working on we're continuing with our last mile strategy to get every single person on Ontario that can be vaccinated vaccinated thank you the next question the member for thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Ontario benefits from having a diverse population it provides us a unique advantage and it's truly one of our province's greatest strengths as you know diversity has shown to increase innovation reduce risk and open many new opportunities for economic development and growth speaker just look around we have and I'm proud to be part of the most diverse caucus in this province history and proud to say that our government continues to stand up for everyone across Ontario no matter what their background is at the same time speaker many of my constituents and express their concern and the need for the government to take strong actions to combat racism and hate motivated violence in Ontario they want a government that defends the right of everyone in Ontario to worship practice their faith and live their lives free of fear intimidation and violence so my question is to the Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism please tell our House what this ministry is doing to address these concerns not just for Mrs. Saga Malton but for whole Ontario thank you thank you very much thank you Mr. Speaker I want to thank the member for that and also for his tremendous work on behalf of his constituents both here at Queen's Park and in his writing Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker our government believes that everyone in the province should have an opportunity to succeed in life free of any form of hate or racism regardless of their background regardless where they might have come from Mr. Speaker this is a serious issue and we know that more work needs to be done our government is taking action by investing in programs and working with organizations right across our province to promote diversity and inclusion that's why in the recent fall economic statement our government is committing to investing over $8 million in additional new funding to combat anti-Semitism Islamophobia and all other forms of hate in our communities right across our great province thank you Mr. Speaker and the supplementary question thank you minister for that answer it is imperative that we all take these issues seriously and work with the community partners to put an end to racism and hate in our communities with prosperity in rise more opportunities building in our province over 291,000 jobs going on field we need our diverse population serving all across Ontario while I do appreciate minister's answer I'm sure you will agree more needs to be done so speaker through you to the minister what specific sports can constitute in my writing take advantage of and what has our government done to bring grassroots solution to combating racism and hate thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. Speaker I want to thank my colleague for that and once again Mr. Speaker it allows me an opportunity to highlight some of the resources available to each and every Ontario that are focused on rooting out hate and racism in our neighbourhood in our communities through the fall economic statement we on this side of the house Mr. Speaker are saying yes to doubling the anti-racism anti-hate grant from 1.6 million to 3.2 million dollars we're saying yes to building fully inclusive workplace with fully funded 1.5 million dollar business resources hub to help employers Mr. Speaker and we're saying yes to launching a 5 million dollar race grant to help racialize an indigenous entrepreneurs with seed funding we will continue to work with our community partners to eliminate racism and hate in our province we on this side of the house Mr. Speaker will continue to say yes to building an inclusive Ontario thank you. The next question the member for Ottawa Thank you Speaker my question is for the Premier yesterday I rose in this house to ask if this government would commit to a public inquiry into Ottawa's LRT and ask Ontario's auditor general to investigate a system speaker that's been plagued with problems since it started Speaker the LRT's derailed six times the latest being two months ago the LRT's now resumed partial service but residents at home are telling me they don't feel safe and they want answers and they want accountability now but the P3 model that built our LRT has offered no accountability for municipal leaders in Ottawa Centre and a story today by Joanne Ciannello from CBC Ottawa accounts for the fact that John Manconi our city's former transit manager knew that the LRT wasn't ready before it actually opened on September 14, 2019 so my question to the government this morning is very simple did the province know that senior municipal transit officials in Ottawa believed our LRT system was not fit for service a month before it opened Minister of infrastructure Thank you very much for the question to the member opposite I think your question would be better directed to the MPP of Orleans who was actually the chair of the transit commission at the time but in terms of the P3 model of the 74 projects that have reached substantial completion 95% were completed on budget and 81% completed within 3 months of substantial completion Mr. Speaker the P3 model has been successful it is well it is actually admired by many places in the world they looked to Ontario for leadership for innovative solutions and for appropriate risk transfer Mr. Speaker we have $60 billion worth in contract value for building hospitals in the province of Ontario and we will continue with the successful option one of these supplementary questions Thank you Speaker for the people watching at home the answer to my question was no no the government of Ontario didn't know that Ottawa's senior transit official told the Rideau Transit Commission the private consortium the P3 consortiums the government is promoting even today that the system wasn't fit for service that is shocking Speaker this is what Mr. Madconi said in the email that Joe Antionella released today we can all agree he writes that things are not going well the reliability of the fleet is not where it needs to be to provide dependable service my goodness Speaker this was written a month before the system opened so if the government didn't know about this my question to them honestly through you is are you concerned about that the fact that you didn't know are you concerned about the fact that proprietary nature of these P3 arrangements are you the right to know despite being a major funder of the system Speaker again I've been calling for it for a year I'm going to call for it this morning I hope to hear a yes to this question are is the government going to mandate a provincial inquiry into this is the government going to ask the Ontario Auditor General to investigate this mess after today's disturbing revelations simple question yes or no Mr. Transportation Thank you and I thank the member opposite for the question clearly he just like so many Ottawa transit riders incredibly frustrated by the challenges that have been plaguing the Ottawa LRT the stage one of the Ottawa LRT and we have become as I've said increasingly concerned in the city's ability to deliver on this project that's why we're looking at all options to increase the province's oversight and ensure better value for taxpayer dollars Mr. Speaker we're looking at all options including a public inquiry and a review by Ontario's Auditor General Mr. Speaker we take this very seriously and we'll report back to the house with more when we have some more information Thank you Thank you the next question the member for Glen Gary Prescott Russell Thank you Mr. President Thank you very much Speaker now months after the federal government offered $10 a date in Ontario still hasn't signed an agreement why not while listening to the minister and the prime minister there is no longer any logical justification the conservative prime minister said I want the same deal that Alberta and Quebec have who's going to tell him Alberta and Quebec don't even have the same deal that's a lot of touch the Ontario premier is with that said deal and the file in general the conservative government the same government that cut half a billion dollars from Ontario's education budget can't figure out why it doesn't get more money than everyone else for education well where's the fair deal for Ontarians in its economic statement nowhere Mr. Speaker this is just plain nonsense when is this government going to do the right thing and finally make a deal with the federal government Thank you Speaker what is I think indeed complete nonsense is the 40% increase that happened under the provincial liberal watch under Kathy Winn and Stephen Dalduca indefensible by any measurement and the member opposite should not be defending the second most expensive childcare in the nation under the liberal watch we agree that's unacceptable we know we can do better the leader when expensive childcare is the new democrats of BC both parties fail in this respect this premier is getting the job done by getting a deal in place that stands up for our interest that increases investment that is more flexible to support every mom and dad in this province not some but all parents deserve that support we're standing up for Ontario and I'd ask the provincial liberals to do the same for the people we represent thank you Mr. Speaker the worst part is the minister for education is a argument to say that Ontario doesn't have its fair share as the federal minister responsible has pointed out after deducting the funds dedicated to original communities from the total and sharing the rest among the provinces according to their population the figures for Ontario's offer are exactly the fair share Ontario should have in other words the minister and his government are not even looking at the right numbers right in the potato patch shameful but it still has the option of admitting its mistakes and making the deal and his argument about the kindergarten frankly the kindergarten is not a daycare once again this conservative government wants the federal government to pay for what is its responsibility as the provincial level speaker when will this government stop beating around the bush and come to an agreement with the federal government Minister of Education thank you very much Mr. Speaker as I've said our government wants a fair deal a good deal for the people of Ontario we want the federal government to not penalize this province because we happen to have a far more superior program for four and five year olds yes that's based within our school system led by a teacher and an ECE which virtually no province in Canada has we're not asking for anything more than the recognition like in Quebec that has an existing system and yet it does not provide the maximum investment with few strings attached we want a similar program that does not penalize us for being the gold standard when it comes to care for children we want an investment that is proportionate to our population and we want a long term commitment that ensures childcare prices are affordable yes for year one through five and well beyond speaker Order the member for Niagara Centre Speaker through you to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister's zoning order to bypass due process and public consultations and fast track the development of block 41 in Vaughn an area that includes Greenbelt farmland most of the block 41 landowners have strong political and donor ties to the premier and the PC party one of these well connected landowners TAC construction is seeking a regional official plan amendment that would allow the destruction of Greenbelt farmland as part of the block 41 development enabled by the MZO the minister is the final approval authority will he protect the Greenbelt and reject this amendment or will he protect the profits of the premier's developer friends and donors Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing I was asked this question on Monday by the Toronto Star and at that time we had not received the documentation from York Region regarding their request we just received it yesterday we are reviewing it as the member knows I have 120 days to make a decision we'll give it our due diligence we'll make sure that it's a complete application and we'll provide a response that seems fair and for Niagara Centre Speaker this government has justified its overuse and abuse of minister's zoning orders based on a secret Deloitte report no one can find most of the MZO is issued by this government have benefited friends and donors of the premier like Michael DeGasperis who runs TAC construction when he is not busy with Vaughn working families currently under RCMP investigation the MZO for block 41 led directly to TAC construction's request for a regional official plan amendment that would allow the destruction of Greenbelt farmland Vaughn and York staff the Toronto Conservation Authority and the Greenbelt Foundation all oppose this amendment the minister must choose will he protect the Greenbelt and reject this amendment or will he protect the profits of the premier's developer friends and donors Minister well again speaker I can't let that question go by without correcting the record regarding minister's zoning orders I've been very clear as minister all of the MZO's that have been requested on non-provincial land have come at the request of a municipality so the municipality works with the applicant and then makes the decision to request the minister's zoning order and I have to tell you speaker you know I'll just take one aspect of minister's zoning orders so in 15 years the Liberal government aided 99% of the time by Democrats only built 611 long-term care beds MZO's that I've signed at the request of municipalities we've already committed to 3,700 beds said yes and we're going to get shovels in the ground and build long-term care beds next question the member for Chatham can't leave him to thank you very much speaker my questions to the minister of health minister as we head into the winter season the department of medical health and the staff of the university is preparing to keep students and faculty safe in the event of a surge in covid infection cases by that time vaccination immunity is projected to wane for seeably exposing students and faculty to mass outbreaks in crowded in-person classes now in some cases colleges and universities for these students and faculty who wish to avoid the risk of infection this winter from in-person attendance, I would think it would be prudent that preparations for remote learning and instruction would be good policy to keep everyone safe. What I'd like to know is your thoughts on this issue. The Minister of Colleges and Universities to respond. Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member for that question. As you know having post-secondary institutions open are critical to the economic recovery of this province. In fact we are training the professionals that we need on the front lines right now, the PSWs, the nurses. In-person training is important as well we've seen the need for mental health so it's really important to have students back in the classroom and I'm actually very proud of our sector. In fact 94% of students have been double-vaxxed as well as 93.3% of staff and faculty so we're above the provincial average. These young people are protected. It's important that they are back in the classroom and the fact that I worked with the chief medical officer of health to ensure that colleges and universities are following the protocol to get students back in the classroom and we'll continue to work with the sector to make sure that students are able to return to the classroom safely. I think speaking back to the minister, to be very clear my question was about compelling students and faculty whether vaccinated or unvaccinated to attend in-person classes this coming semester at a time when the pandemic emergency still remains a live concern. Minister what if some students and faculty catch COVID next semester? What if others wish to avoid the risk of infection by learning remotely? From a health perspective do you agree that it would be smart policy for Ontario colleges and universities to have in place remote learning and instruction options for all in-person classes in order to keep students and faculty safe? And speaker Ontario students, faculty and parents are looking to this minister for a straight answer. Minister of colleges and universities. Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member for that question. In fact we provide the COVID supports for students and for institutions to protect the students and we also I think the sector for switching to virtual learning as quickly as they did to ensure the safety of the staff and the students in place. We have a partnership with Ecampus Ontario that worked on digital learning and the supports to colleges and universities at that time and we also launched our virtual learning strategy to improve the quality and learning experience for post-secondary students. But if you look at this sector as I said we're above the provincial average. There is a vaccine policy in place at institutions across the province to ensure that faculty, staff and students are kept safe and I thank the sector for this work and the work that we've been doing with the chief medical officer of health and look as I said before this is a crucial response we need to ensure that we are providing the frontline workers with the education that they need the nurses the doctors the PSWs to ensure the health of all Ontarians. Thank you Speaker my question is for the premier premier right now the opioid related morbidity and mortality rates in Thunder Bay district health unit are 10 times higher than anywhere else in the province. The St. Joseph's health care group runs the Balmoral Treatment Centre that provides withdrawal management services the first step in getting people help. There have been approximately 3,000 admissions every year since 2017 but another 3,000 admissions are denied every year because every bed is in use. Our community desperately needs the province to step up. Premier will this government commit to funding a community-based crisis centre in Thunder Bay? Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member opposite for that question. Mr. Speaker no matter where you live in the province of Ontario it's always been our mission that all Ontarians have access to high quality mental health and addiction supports when and where they need them. From the very beginning our government has taken decisive action to address the mental health and addiction's needs across the province including in northern rural and remote communities. This is a problem that is facing all of the province of Ontario and since the release of the roadmap to wellness Mr. Speaker we've made unprecedented investments totaling over 40 million dollars in new ongoing annualized funding specifically to address the needs of those living with mental health and addiction's challenges in northern Ontario and these investments include new funding for inpatient mental health beds, mobile crisis services both in home and mobile detox services and opioid addiction services in Timmins, child and youth mental health supports and residential detox services in Thunder Bay, peer support, mobile crisis teams and state beds for mobile crisis services. The supplementary question. Thank you my question then is to the minister Thunder Bay needs a community based crisis center and over 30 healthcare and non-profit community partners have come together in Thunder Bay to support one including our police. Our residents deserve a facility that is local and provides one stop shop of care. We're not doing enough. The opioid crisis demands a better response from this government. Minister, when can Thunder Bay expect this government to provide the new crisis center for our community? And the associate minister. Mr. Speaker and Mr. Speaker as the member opposite should know we've invested over 525 million dollars now and we'll continue investing 525 million dollars to build a system throughout the province of Ontario. But Mr. Speaker what I'd like to point out to the party opposite is to not forget the fact that when the NDP were in charge they voted no to more mental health beds. In fact they closed 13% of Ontario's mental health beds and closed 9,645 hospital beds throughout the entire province and Mr. Speaker they said no to more acute care mental health care and cut 53 million dollars from several of Ontario psychiatric hospitals. In addition to that they voted no and cut health care funding across the board in their last budget when they reduced hospital funding by 1%. Mr. Speaker it's our government that is building the system in the province of Ontario and cleaning up the mess that was made by the NDP and continued under the NDP government. Thank you. That concludes our question period for this morning. 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. Bell assumes ballot item number 14 and Mr. Glover assumes ballot item number 66. There being no further business this morning this house stands in recess until 3 p.m.