 Thank you. It's now time for question period. The member from Lackdon, Kent, Middlesex. Thank you very much for speaking. My question this morning is to the Premier. Premier listened to the fall economic statement yesterday and while I appreciate a nice story with a happy ending, this isn't the time or place for fiction. We continue to rely on rosy assumptions about the growth of our economy in spite of the half a billion dollars shortfall you announced yesterday and in the face of a flagging economic outlook globally. In just the last few weeks we've learned Japan and Italy are officially in recession, Germany struggled to grow its economy by 0.1% last quarter and China's growth is continuing to slow. Yesterday UK Prime Minister David Cameron cautioned and a quote red warning lights are once again flashing on the dashboard of the global economy. Premier, how can you expect the people of Ontario to believe that you'll balance the budget without raising their chances when you keep estimating revenue and won't stop spending? Well Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the global context that the member opposite has painted and those are realities that we are contending with but Mr. Speaker, we have a plan and we are executing the plan that we ran on Mr. Speaker and that plan is multifaceted. It is not one thing. The party opposite had one song that they sang during the election campaign. Their only thought was to cut and slash fire people and cut services. That is not a plan Mr. Speaker. That is a recipe for disaster. What we have said is that we have to make investments that will allow for job growth now and in the future and economic support for communities in the future. We have said we have to constrain spending and we have a program review in place Mr. Speaker that is going to allow us to do that and we have said we have to partner with the private sector. Mr. Speaker, back to the Premier. Premier, I know you don't have a background in business or experience meeting a payroll but let me tell you this Premier, a small business that grows its debt here Order please. Finish please. Premier, a small business that grows its debt year after year wouldn't get back in the black just by raising its prices and cracking down on kids pocketing a few candy bars. That much more fundamental change is needed in this province. The debt is nearly $300 billion and you Premier are paying $29 million a day just to service the debt. Premier, can you tell us exactly how this government is going to significantly reduce spending? Thank you. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Let me just say to the member opposite that I believe that government and society needs leadership that brings life experience to those roles that allow. The government of Ontario is a government that is responsible for the life and livelihood of 13.6 million people in this province. It is a complex enterprise, it's a complex society and so the plan that we have to review the programs and transform the discoveries to manage compensation costs to ensure that everyone pays their fair share of taxes and to unlock the value of the assets that belong to the people of Ontario. That's the complexity that we bring to this Council. I'll speak back to the Premier. Premier with no real intention to get spending under control, you've said you're relying cigarettes to balance the books. You have presented strengthening revenue integrity as if it was a revolutionary idea but in fact it's simply an admission that your government has failed to protect tax dollars. Either you have been unable or unwilling to enforce these laws, properly collect taxes or deliver on old promises to crack down on contraband tobacco. If in fact there is significant revenue to be found from stopping this quote revenue leakage as you call it, how many millions or billions of dollars has this government lost over the last decade by failing to enforce its own laws? You know again I understand that the questions that are written down and the decisions that are made about the way the questions are going to go are made before question period but I really think that this is an important discussion that we should be having about how we solve a problem that quite frankly we are all in together as the member opposite outline. There are global forces that we are all dealing with. We have put in place a plan that yes speaks to making sure that there is revenue integrity that the revenue that should be coming into the provincial coffers comes into the provincial coffers while at the same time making sure that we pay attention to the economic development of all our communities across the province. If the member opposite looks at the work that we have done in for example in the Ministry of Health over the last number of years and can look at the transformation that has taken place and the way spending has been constrained Mr. Speaker and the way costs have been controlled and the limits on growth that we have put in place there he would understand what's possible. Questions? Same member? Well Speaker my next question is for the Premier. Premier in 2010 the Liberal government of the day of which you were the Minister of Education retracted its controversial plans to introduce a new sex education curriculum in our schools and promised to widely consult with parents before attempting another sex ed revision. Stop. The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs you will come to order. Please continue. Premier just a few weeks ago your Minister of Education suddenly announced that there would be a new sex education curriculum in place for the 2015 school year and yet Premier there have been no meaningful consultations with internal parents on this issue. My question this morning Premier is very simple why have you decided to break the 2010 Liberal promise to consult with parents before reintroducing new changes to Ontario's sex education curriculum? Well Mr. Speaker quite the contrary we have followed through on that commitment and the Minister of Education has announced a process whereby parents across the province will be consulted. Parents well and I will just say you know the notion that somehow the chair of the school council, the representative of the school council that somehow that person doesn't have access to the school population just demonstrates how little this party opposite actually understands about how I've been the chair of a school council, I've been a school trustee I've worked in community, I understand that the role of a school council chair is to talk to the people in his or her school to get that input and then to feed that input into a process. That's how it's work Mr. Speaker and we promised we would consult with parents that's exactly what we're doing. One carefully selected hand-picked parent represents only 4,000 parents out of millions of Ontario parents that's barely 1% of parents premier this is not consultation. For the Minister to suggest that such a covert process of meaningful consultation is an insult to the intelligence of parents right across this province it is simply smoke and mirrors premier. When will you reveal the contents of the new liberal sex education curriculum so all parents in the province can see for themselves what you have planned for their children? I'll just quickly answer the first part of that question and say that what is an insult to the people of the province and particularly to the hard working volunteers in all of the schools in this province is that this member wouldn't understand that those volunteer roles are extremely important that they do connect with the parents in their schools and that they have a very important role to play and he really should learn that Mr. Speaker to the second part of the question. I believe that what this is really about what this is really about is that this member wants to once again undermine the real the very real need for a strong and updated and modern sex education physical and health education curriculum in our schools I would think that given the issues that we have dealt with as a society in the last few weeks he would have begun to understand that Thank you. Final supplementary. I'll speak her back to the premier. Even this flimsy promise to consult the tiny hand-picked select group of parents is a farce. Today October 30th your Minister of Education suggested that it was unlikely that any feedback even from these people would have an impact on your liberal government. The Minister of Education will come to order. Please finish. Premier this is another liberal broken promise another example of liberal contempt for voters and parents in the province of Ontario. Premier it seems you're afraid of telling parents what you intend to teach their children. Why don't you simply release the details of the proposed liberal sex education curriculum now and Premier what are you trying to hide? Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. So here is my advice to the member opposite in answer to his question that is to go to the schools in his riding to talk to the elected chairs of the school councils because they are about what they think should be in the physical and health education curriculum because that is the consultation that we're doing but Mr. Speaker I just want to point out that there are members of this party that have called for a select committee to look into sexual harassment and sexual assault. I have said that I'm open to making changes and that that's a conversation that house leaders can have but that flies in the face of what this member is doing Mr. Speaker It goes both ways. I'm not getting quiet for people to take their last cheap shots and it's reached a point of regret for me. Any discussion about the needs for children to learn about sexual harassment and sexual assault there will be and necessarily a discussion about health and physical education curriculum in schools. Those two things are necessarily linked Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is for the premier. Yesterday the Liberal government released its fall economic statement Ontario's bank account is short half a billion dollars. The Liberals are slashing 6% out of nearly every ministry and now we're finding out that they're short in revenues. What's the premier going to do to cover the loss of Speaker? Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I know that the leader of the third party understands our plan understands the fiscal underpinnings of our plan because she ran on that plan Mr. Speaker. She understands that we have a path to balance. She understands that we are looking at our assets Mr. Speaker to make sure that they are working for the people of Ontario. She understands that we are constraining compensation Mr. Speaker and she understands that we are working to transform the programs as we have done across government. We will continue to do to make sure that we are providing the services that people in this province need but that we are providing them in the most cost effective way possible Mr. Speaker. At the same time making investments that will allow the economy to thrive. Those investments in transportation infrastructure in transit roads and bridges around the province Mr. Speaker that we know communities in order to draw business. That's the plan I know she's aware of it Mr. Speaker because as I say she ran on it. Mr. Speaker when the government released its fall update we found out that liberal mismanagement has left revenues $5 billion lower than projected since the 2010 budget but instead of looking for ways to ensure that we can actually pay the bills the Liberals are handing a brand new tax loophole to corporations so that they can write off the HST on leaf tickets and the company car. Steve Orsini former Deputy Minister of Finance and now the Premier Secretary of Cabinet says this loophole will cost $750 million annually. Now when we're falling short on revenues and we're slashing services to people does the Premier really think it's wise to open up a new corporate tax loophole. Mr. Speaker I know that the Minister of Finance will want to speak to the specifics but again let me say that we presented our fall economic statement yesterday to the people of the province and we are we are very confident given what has been happening in the province given Mr. Speaker that our unemployment rate is at 6.5% that's the lowest rate since October 2008 Mr. Speaker given Mr. Speaker that those jobs are 90% full time jobs 37,000 net new jobs Mr. Speaker last month in October the fact is Mr. Speaker that we are seeing an uptake absolutely absolutely there are challenges ahead of us and we have we've acknowledged that but we have a plan we understand that there has to be constraints and at the same time we must make those investments that will allow the economy to thrive. Another way to increase revenues is certainly to grow the economy but we learned that the Liberals will be missing their growth targets that they just set five months ago pre-election Speaker that didn't take long now did it we won't hit the ground we won't hit the growth targets rather in any of the next four years coming is what that economic statement said four more years Speaker of lost revenues four more years of slash services does the Premier really think her plans working Speaker Minister of Finance Thank you Mr. Speaker I appreciate the question and I understand that the member opposite is talking about our path to balance and our stimulus package both combined to achieve the positive results that are necessary she referenced the fact that revenues are down by half a billion dollars which is correct noted earlier because of global forces and what have we done we recalibrated and reassess it to ensure that we continue to balance and we meet our targets but the member opposite is basing her assumptions on our platform now I know it's both are further read more than nine pages as she's written on hers are a little bit more complex than that and it's fully detailed and it's out there for all to use and recognize we will achieve our target we're balancing our books by 2017-18 and we're stimulating growth as necessary thank you Mr. Speaker new question Speaker we certainly didn't include billions of dollars of new corporate tax loopholes in our plan Speaker my next question to the Premier in yesterday's economic statement the government has admitted for the very first time that they will not meet that they didn't meet in fact their 8% auto insurance premium reduction now they're saying that the rates may come down 6% now the etchings over speaker the government has been backing away in this economic statement from the promise that they meet made just a few months ago to reduce rates by 15% now is the Premier going to keep her promise to reduce those rates by 15% speaker or is this fall economic statement really an admission that they're going to go nowhere near 15% the Minister of Finance will want to speak on the specifics but let me just be clear what we have said in the fall economic statement and what we have said consistently is that auto insurance rates are down they have already come down Mr. Speaker we are already seeing success and we will continue to work to make sure that we reach those targets but the fact is Mr. Speaker that the work that we have done so far and the changes that have been made those have already produced results the fact is that the members opposite need to look at the legislation that we brought forward because in that legislation are the mechanisms to remove fraud from the system to make further changes that will continue to bring those auto insurance on average down across the province Mr. Speaker in the fall economic statement the government appears to be backing away from their promise to cut auto insurance rates by 15% that's the bottom line and they're using something called the annual automobile insurance transparency and accountability experts report as the reason why they're backing away but this report speaker is so transparent that it's being kept from the public to explain why her transparency report that underpins her economic statement and her broken promise on auto insurance is being kept from the public Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. Speaker it's pretty rich I gotta tell ya we're in the midst of trying to look at legislation on auto insurance which the member opposite and her team voted against voted against the very measures to reduce auto insurance further than the proposed months ago we would have reduced auto insurance even more notwithstanding the auto insurance rates are down the member from Eglinton Lawrence will come to order and the member from Hamilton East Tony Creek will come to order finish please so auto insurance rates are down on average by 6% because of the measures we've taken to date we need to do more we need to do the necessary work around footing fraud we have to go against dispute resolution systems we're looking also at a number of initiatives around the tow truck industry and a number of initiatives that are enabled us to reduce costs in the courts that was necessary months ago they stopped it they delayed it they voted against it we're going to make sure it gets passed now and reduce rates even further final supplementary well in fact what they've done is taken away people's rights to sue and have justice in terms of auto insurance disputes on people across Ontario our growth is not keeping up it means losing out over a billion dollars worth of jobs investments and prosperity bills are going up for hydro and they're not coming down for auto and people are wondering if they're going to be facing more cuts and more privatized services because the Liberals have emptied the piggy bank does the premier still think her plan is progressive speaker so Mr. Speaker the member opposite ran on our platform says that she's going to find 600 million dollars more in savings and in cuts to health care and education that she said she would be able to find and now she's saying well we don't want to do that either so you can't have it both ways we are taking the steps necessary to transform government through the work that the president of the Treasury Board is doing now we're going to make certain that we provide for open and collective agreements that honor and respect the rights of others but ensuring that we have net zero so that we can all be in this together investing in those matters that are important to Ontarians to promote and increase our growth and Mr. Speaker she makes reference to tax loopholes which are wrong we have revenue leakage that we are attacking but what she makes reference to is incorrect she knows that fully well that we need the federal government support in those initiatives that we do not have we're fighting hard for Ontario she should fight hard for Ontario as well instead of putting them down and making absolute accusations Thank you very much My question is for the Premier Good morning Premier The Bank of Canada and the Conference Board of Canada both forecast that you would not make your revenue numbers this year but you didn't listen to the experts and you put a high revenue number in your budget well surprise the experts were right again and you were wrong again revenues came in half a billion dollars lower than you told us what would be and that's only four months ago and you rated our reserves again 300 million more out of the piggy bank so it doesn't look as bad as it really is the Ontario Chamber of Commerce has concluded quote we are likely to reach a state of crisis unless the province cuts spending changes the way it does business Premier will you please listen to the experts in the financial community and finally change the way you do in Ontario Minister of Finance so Mr. Speaker the premise of the question is completely inaccurate and I'll tell you why Mr. Speaker we have independent economists around the world and across Canada assessing the degree of revenue that we would be achieved in fact we had Don Drummond last year look at the integrity of the revenue numbers that were projected by independent economists outside of government we took those projections and pared it down even further we were below their projected amounts and even still we were able to use the shock absorbers that had been built into the system that's why it exists and it's also why we're borrowing $24 billion less and have $200 million in lower interest costs because of the efforts that we're taking to offset these very measures we're moving ahead we're on target to balance the budget by 2017-18 by taking a balanced approach Mr. Speaker Supplementary quite a pamphlet there Premier we've seen the direct result of your spending spree I'm going to ask you to withdraw that withdraw carry on you've already cut 1600 nursing jobs physiotherapy for our seniors cataract surgeries and diabetes testing strips Premier you're the one holding the knife today it's not getting any better your own plan shows you need to raise revenue $15 billion by 2017-18 to balance the budget but you've missed your revenue targets every single time so Premier what are you going to do now are you going to raise taxes as mentioned twice yesterday more health cuts to in addition to the ones you've already done or are you going to legislate the wage freeze your finance minister announced in this house yesterday Minister so Mr. Speaker we've adopted now over 80% of Don Drummond's recommendations we've taken measure of austerity in a very pragmatic and appropriate way by transforming government without hampering services in health care and education especially and for our social well-being but Mr. Speaker as a result of that we've become the lowest cost government per capita in Canada we've done our job in that regard what we will not do though Mr. Speaker is cut 100,000 jobs from the system and put people at risk is what he's been applying for and what he's been suggesting instead we have a net increase of 500,000 net new jobs since the recession we've recovered to 300,000 plus 500,000 more and unemployment rate now in Ontario is 6.5% 1% lower than last year we're continuing to do what's necessary to promote the economy and manage our program spending as necessary, thank you Any questions? Thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question is to the Minister of Finance according to the fall economic statement the first annual automobile insurance transparency and accountability expert report was delivered to the Minister of Finance now the whole point of this annual report was to let the public know why premiums were so high despite the fact that the insurance industry was saving millions of dollars flowing from the draconian benefit cut backs of 2010 and subsequent years but this government has refused to release this so called transparency report to the public Minister, why haven't you released this report to the public and what is in this report that you're so afraid of showing to the millions of Ontario drivers Thank you Mr. Speaker The real question Mr. Speaker is why did you vote against the very bill that would lower auto insurance in the first place why were you not standing up for the people of Ontario and the very drivers that you claim to be supporting we've been able to reduce rates by 6% on average we can reduce rates even more by imposing and providing the legislation that we brought forward that will be debated in this house that will be debated on committee that will enable us to have that discussion which you're trying to avoid at the very nature of your question because you of all people stood in this house trying to claim and support auto insurance drivers to produce their rates just like many private members bills on this house to the house have fought for we'll continue to do our part you should be joining us in doing it as well Thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker that's going to make a great quality answer the minister is disappointed that I asked him to release a transparency report that he transferred New Democrats have long argued that the insurance industry has pocketed $2 billion from the 2010 benefit cutbacks without passing a penny on to drivers that's why we called for a 15% premium rollback which we thought this government agreed to in the 2013 budget but it's pretty clear now they have no intention of implementing it Minister you admitted yesterday that the 15% rate reduction is stalled at 6% but you didn't say why what's in the transparency report that you refuse to release again what are you hiding from the 8 million drivers in Ontario Minister Mr. Speaker we have a regulatory system that forces the companies to post online their rates their activities and the reductions that they are proceeding with there's over 100 companies that are competing almost 20 of them or more are actually well above the 50% reduction in rates already and we can encourage that activity to proceed and that is transparent and I gotta tell you the reason why rates are at only 6% is very clear because you stalled the very legislation that enables rates to go down because you voted against it because you enabled an election that wasn't necessary and those are the issues that are creating the slowing of that rate reduction now we're gonna act quickly we're gonna ensure that rates are reduced by taking the actions that's necessary in this piece of legislation which I hope you will support in the end Thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister for Development of Northern Development excuse me in mind Minister in your mandate letter the Premier made it clear that we've made it our government's priority to ensure that Ontario's north continues to realize its potential as a sustainable, diverse, stable and innovative region that significantly contributes to the overall growth of Ontario's economy Mr. Speaker can the Minister please explain what our government is doing to drive growth in Northern Ontario Thank you very much I'm very grateful for all of us with our great question and certainly it's a complete priority for our Northern communities to continue to remain on a positive track towards prosperity and that's one of the reasons why we are continuing to work so hard on the implementation of the Northern Ontario growth plan we're diversifying the economy helping communities attract investment and building more efficient infrastructure and the key we believe Mr. Speaker is to take a very collaborative approach and that's why we are directly engaging municipal Aboriginal community leaders in Northern Ontario we held the Northern Leaders Forum in Jimmins last December followed that up with a very very positive section in Thunder Bay and may I say Mr. Speaker we are looking forward to continue that dialogue with another Northern Leaders Forum early in the new year happening in Seaside Marine Thank you Thank you Minister for informing the House forming this legislature about the strategic investments our government is making in Northern Ontario Mr. Speaker we need to ensure that we continue to support the talent of all Ontarians so that we can build a dynamic business climate in our province one that thrives on innovation creativity and partnerships I think that we would all agree that successful development relies on the modern and efficient infrastructure a vital component of building prosperous communities Mr. Speaker can the Minister please explain what our government is doing to improve infrastructure in Northern Ontario and support growth across the region Thank you Minister Another great question thank you so much the infrastructure is absolutely a vital part of realizing the full potential of our Northern communities which is why we are so proud of this last year's investment of $527 million for Northern Highways which is about 147 million for expansion 380 million for rehabilitation actually over $5 billion over the last 10 years we made a $32 million investment to support the expansion of broadband infrastructure to 21 First Nations communities and additional $30 million in projects extending broadband covers over 96% of Northern Ontario homes we are going to get all the way there we have launched a new Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund providing annually now permanently $100 million per year to small rural and northern municipalities Mr. Speaker it is important to note these are priorities for us we have never heard a thing from the opposition party during the campaign last year at all about a certain plan we are very proud of our Northern plan and it is a total priority and our government thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the Minister of Infrastructure Minister your revolving door of excuses is getting old and tired your newest excuse is trying to pull the wool over taxpayers' eyes by telling us the Mars loan is fully secure Minister CBRES most recent appraisal Pigs valued building $3 million if 100% least you have blown $224 million on the loan $65 million more on ARE and now we are on the hook for $106.5 million in interest that is a lot more than $300 million Minister you are like the Energizer Minister you just keep digging and digging and digging us into a deeper hole Minister you are planning to cut and selling the building or just keep pouring millions more into a bad deal you should have never signed off on in the first place Mr. Speaker what is getting old and tired is the members daily attacks on the integrity of Mars Mr. Speaker and the opportunities that Mars brings to our bioscience cluster Mr. Speaker if the member was really concerned about the economy and jobs he would be supporting our bioscience cluster in the efforts that Mars makes to grow jobs and attract investment Mr. Speaker but there is a big difference between that party and this party yes Mr. Speaker when the Mars phase 2 project was having challenges we did step up and provide support to ensure that that building did not rot in the ground his party would elect that building rot in the ground he would have kissed away the jobs that are going to come from the work that Mars does and the economic development and the investment that that will attract to this province Mr. Speaker I will not be taking his advice I'm looking forward to the advice of Michael and Carol Stevenson who will help us ensure that this project becomes a success Minister we know that you don't understand the business case and no one is surprised now that you don't understand the appraisal either your appraisal just doesn't add up both CBRE and Altis based evaluations of Mars on it being fully leased to tenants paying research and life science spaces yet we know there is no market for the 780,000 square feet of research space but we do know you're planning to put bureaucrats in there and the market value for office space is 8 to 10 dollars a square foot less than research space that means the value of the building is tens of millions of dollars less even when it is fully rented minister can you tell this house exactly how many millions more is Mars too worth when filled with bureaucrats instead of scientists or are you just going to pass this off to the finance minister is more leakage next year thank you Mr. Speaker the PC's party's approach to dealing with the challenges faced by phase 2 Mars was to let that building rot on the ground Mr. Speaker that was their approach but it shouldn't surprise us shouldn't surprise us because Mr. Speaker when things get tough Tories run and hide look what they did with the auto sector when the auto sector was having challenges Mr. Speaker we stepped up partnered with the auto sector insured that 400,000 plus direct and indirect jobs were saved in this province Mr. Speaker the approach to that party was to let those plants close Mr. Speaker when it comes down to it this party has the intestinal fortitude to make the investments we need to make to grow our economy to partner with the private sector Mr. Speaker when necessary to make the important business decisions going forward that are responsible to taxpayers that are going to create jobs and grow our economy that party clearly does not Mr. Speaker thank you Speaker my question to the minister of education Speaker on July 9th the premier stood in this house and said quote we're not going to cut education yesterday the economic update poured cold water on that liberal promise the liberals have quietly admitted they're actually planning a half a billion dollars in cuts to schools in this province the 2015 education funding guide shows up to 500 million dollars in cuts by 2017 why did the premier promise Ontarians no cuts to education while asking you minister to slack 500 million dollars in crucial funding to our schools wow thank you minister of education yes thank you and I think one of the things that you need to recognize is that in fact we have increased spending in education more than any other government has ever done in fact the on average the per pupil spending has increased anywhere from 50 to 60 percent depending on where the board is in Ontario Speaker so I absolutely challenge anyone who says that we are not funding education properly it is true that we have declining enrollment and that when you find that enrollment is declining that there may be individual boards because they have had dramatic declines in enrollment may not have had as much funding this year as last but the supplementary well speaker the premier said one thing and now she is doing the opposite her budget promised increased funding to school boards to keep up with growing enrollment she is on the record promising no cuts to schools and yet the ministry of education is spelling out 500 million dollars cuts to our classrooms and says annual increases are things of the past these cuts will hurt an education system that is already hurting from being underfunded it could mean ballooning class sizes teacher layoffs and even more school closures will the minister tell Ontarians exactly what this cut of half a billion dollars will mean to the students, teachers and education workers of this province thank you let me repeat the funding is now at 22.5 billion through the grants for student needs that represents an increase of 56.5 percent or over $4,000 per pupil since 2003 the funding has gone up in fact in the area that he's talking about this year which is looking at some of the operating issues we've actually added $8.3 million to help boards with planning we've added $15.5 million to help them invest in teaching staff in remote areas of the province where we know that the schools are going to remain open we're actually increasing the funding so that those schools can remain open but the bottom line here is yes the funding keeps going up the per pupil funding thank you speaker my question is to the minister of research and innovation and training colleges and universities minister Ontario is some of the best educated, hardest working and most creative young people in the world many of them live in my riding of Burlington where I've had the privilege of meeting all secondary students who are eager to transform their bright ideas into successful businesses however what I'm finding out is that many of them are not aware of the programs, tools and services that the government makes available to them to develop their entrepreneurial skills and launch their own company minister I understand that the response to Ontario's job strategy has been very strong our government is well on its way of achieving its target of connecting 30,000 young people all the members of this house what steps our government is taking to support young entrepreneurs and help them thrive in today's market economy thank you I want to thank the member from Burlington for that very good question this week is the global entrepreneurship so the question is great building a culture of innovation research excellence and entrepreneurship are at the heart of our government's jobs and economic strategy we recognise that the economy needs a culture of startups and the workers who derive creativity and competitiveness in the new world economy that's why entrepreneurship programs form a key part of our government's huge job strategy Ontario's entrepreneurship fund provides young people with mentorship and a seed capital to start their own businesses and the Ontario's innovation fund helps young innovators get the advanced work experience and the startups support they need to translate their research into 21st century economy Mr. Speaker helping young people get experience and resources they need to launch their own companies is part of our government's path to develop an innovative business climate in this province we will continue to build Ontario by investing in a suite of programs and services that will help young people turn their ideas and dreams in thank you Mr. Speaker it is great to hear that our government is taking the necessary steps to help our young people become successful entrepreneurs Minister post-secondary education plays a crucial role in preparing the next generation of Ontario's entrepreneurs it is imperative that our government invest in student entrepreneurship at the post-secondary level in order to provide our future leaders with the tools they need to succeed in tomorrow's economy investing in a dynamic, innovative post-secondary system will nurture our business visionaries ignite their entrepreneurial spirit and help them grow Ontario's economy can the minister tell us more about the different on-campus programs being offered to young entrepreneurs and how our government is building a dynamic entrepreneurial post-secondary system in our province thank you Mr. Speaker I want to thank the member again for that question Mr. Speaker our government understands the importance in the 21st century global economy that's why our government is building the most entrepreneurial post-secondary system in North America by investing $25 million in two dynamic on-campus programs the first one Mr. Speaker is campus linked accelerators are providing funding to institutions to integrate on-campus entrepreneurial activities with the local businesses and industry and the second program Mr. Speaker is the on-campus entrepreneurship activities program is helping start business activities within the institutions I am proud Mr. Speaker to report that out of 44 Ontario post-secondary system 42 of them now have on-campus entrepreneurship programs these programs are giving students the chance to develop their business ideas while at the same time transforming our post-secondary institutions Mr. Speaker into entrepreneurship Mr. Speaker we are producing some of the best thank you new question the leader of the international opposition Premier last week I received an email from a local news organization indicating that your government plans to approve by the end of November WPD's application to build 8 500 foot tall wind turbines structures that will be as tall as the TD tower here in Toronto directly beside the calling with regional airport now I've raised this issue as you know many times with your government over the years you yourself visited the area just before you became leader and you said that this specific project should not go ahead in the face of community opposition and you've also said that an airport should not have to shut down because of wind turbines so Premier is it true are you going to approve these 500 foot wind turbines in proximity to the calling with airport minister of the environment climate change thank you that's enough thank you Mr. Speaker first of all there's an environmental assessment process for these things as well of which the public has a chance to comment but Mr. Speaker airports and airport standards are regulated by the federal government we've had this debate with members opposite and you know we have a minister who doesn't like to return provincial minister's calls and that's always a challenge but we're really looking to some leadership from the federal government here Mr. Speaker because you cannot build things in the pathway of an airport contrary to federal government fly and approach and rules Mr. Speaker so I've offered many times to meet with the member opposite I've offered to sit down I've actually met with people from the airport and that and we need greater clarity from them we're following the process we're looking for thank you all four surrounding municipalities are against this project they would like their planning power back so that at least they would have the common sense and wisdom to not put these damn things next to an airport it's insane what you're doing it's the same that you would say one thing in the area just before you're elected leader and then not do the review that you said you would do or at least I'm not aware that you've done it and that this process just keeps plowing ahead it doesn't make any sense the minister I say to you the federal government has no rules about wind turbines near airports because they didn't need to develop rules because the municipalities used to have the planning tools to make sure this wouldn't happen like a bunch of dummies that you would actually do this in the first place and that's and they're just saying well give back the planning power but why don't you do that why don't you give these municipalities and all the municipalities to cross the road thank you minister thanks I don't know quite what to say Mr. Speaker after that other than the member should really be the member representing member from Bruce Carrillo and Sam will come to order secretary finish please after that traumatic performance the member should be representing the community of Stratford an academy award winning performance member from here on Bruce will come to order thank you I know the minister the member from here on Bruce will come to order second time and if I knew where the direction was I'd warn that member it's not a laughing matter please finish thank you very much Mr. Speaker we're not interested in endangering the lives of Ontarians and we also respect the constitutional authority member from Stormont come to order I'm the member for Toronto Centre I fly out of the island airport there are very tall structures all around that excuse me seated please member from Bruce Carrillo and Sam is warned finish please thank you very much Mr. Speaker there's large smoke stacks about a little more fibre a little less coffee maybe Mr. Speaker you seated please the member from Canora Rainy River thank you Speaker to the Minister of Natural Resources this is a question about priorities no price was too high to bail out the government's Mars project even though high tech companies showed little interest in occupying the space but a company is interested in taking over the Fort Francis mill there is a deal to be struck that would create and save 1000 jobs in the Rainy River District people of Fort Francis don't need $300 million we just need $5 million to save the mill from being destroyed this winter so that we can finalize a plan to keep the mill open and save 1000 jobs the clock is ticking will this government pay to heat the mill this winter thank you Mr. Speaker thank you and I thank the member for the question Speaker I've responded to this question in the house before and when I responded to it last time I advised the member in the house that we were investigating what possibilities there might be around this should the eventuality arise that has arisen that being that the business to business relationship that was trying to be struck between the owner of the mill resolute forest products and the potential purchaser of the mill fell apart the deal did fall apart but I'm saying here as I said back then that even before that had occurred there was on her feet asking this particular question we had already begun to see what was possible in that regard should we be needed to step in to see what we can do I said that a couple of weeks ago I'll say it here again today I have nothing to announce today we're investigating the possibility to see what we might be able to do and hopefully we'll have a response on that in the not too distant future we've been in contact with the owner of the mill there is still an opportunity we understand time is short we understand what's possible it is still a privately owned mill this government has bent over backwards to bail out the Mars project spending over three hundred million dollars order please sergeant at arms thank you also stand recess for five minutes thank you supplementary thank you speaker the government bent over backwards to bail out its Mars project spending over three hundred million dollars for a two thirds empty building but when the people of the Rainy river district ask the government to help save one thousand jobs that depend on the Fort Francis mill we get only excuses as you can tell by the ice on the ground winter is here if the Fort Francis mill is not heated it will be damaged and lost forever minister it's simple it's a million dollars for Mars will the government find five million dollars to save one thousand jobs and heat the mill this winter thank you thank you again I thank the member for the question as I've mentioned on several occasions we were investigating this possibility long before the NDP were on their feet talking about or asking this particular question a long time ago I also think speaker that it is a bit disingenuous for the member to get on her feet and suggest with apparently some certainty a deal to be done here there is no guarantee that a deal can be done here it is just as disingenuous to say that as it is to suggest to the people you have to withdraw withdraw I think it is speaker unfortunate language to somehow be conveying to the people of Fort Francis that there is some guarantee of a deal to be done as it is unfortunate to convey to the people of Fort Francis that with a stroke of a pen somehow we could have fixed this particular deal the tenure system that is in place today is one that was created by the NDP in 1994 it's a system that we move forward with legislatively in 2011 to change even if the new change was in place it would not have guaranteed a deal in any particular way speaker so I thank you Mr President my question is for the minister of municipal affairs and housing minister as you're well aware on October 27 in Ontario came together to elect our municipal leader and school board trustees all told approximately 28 council members and 700 trustees were elected from the thousands of candidate to put their name on a ballot while local election have now drawn to a close the work ahead for both our government and our municipal partners is really just beginning throughout the province including my writing of Ottawa where four councillors have been sworn in including one newly elected member on December 1st the province is readying for new municipal governments all the provincial at the provincial level minister you and your staff are beginning a review of the municipal election act and is typical after every municipal election cycle minister can you tell us at this point about where you stand on municipal election electoral reform please thank you absolutely well thanks for that great question I don't mind telling you where I stand on municipal reform I stand with any change that makes sense and has a lot of support from our municipal leaders and our stakeholders as well as the people of Ontario so that's why we're consulting we'll be consulting broadly with AMO Ontario elections people and other stakeholders but before I say anything more I just want to take a moment to congratulate the 2800 or so folk who stood for election as mayor or councillor and the 700 Madam Minister who stood for school board trustee it takes a lot of courage to put your name on a ballot and to go out in the public and talk about your hopes and dreams of others and to respond so congratulations to the folk I know I can speak for the premier when I say we're going to be looking forward to working closer with them thank you supplementary thank you for constituents of my riding about communities across the province municipal electoral reform is not but an issue after all municipal election are the fundamental way that Ontario can engage this government and make their voices heard on the issues that affect their lives on a daily basis during Ottawa's local election I've been offered no shortage in suggested change to the ways our municipal election are conducted I know the minister will share my sentiment and enthusiasm surrounding issues to elect local officials in something that we at the provincial level must encourage Mr. Speaker, through you can the minister share some details about how the review of the municipal election act will welcome input in addition what do you hope what do your hope what do you hope the review will achieve thank you Mr. Speaker, the review will achieve great things great things I know I speak for the premier when I say we look forward to working to the new municipal leaders it's a core principle of our government that after every election we review the municipal elections act I would welcome the honourable member who has said she's heard many ideas from her constituents to share those with me and anyone else who has ideas as well we intend to invite the public to submit their thoughts and we're getting some of that we'll organize post-election meetings with AMO and Mr. Speaker other stakeholders because we think it's important to hear directly from those as you may know the premier has directed in my mandate letter that we'll be providing municipalities with the option to introduce rank validity thank you a new question Mr. Speaker my question is the attorney general the minister yesterday had asked about you about David McPherson the Londoner tragically killed on a fire that engulfed the unlicensed group home he was forced to live in days before this fatal fire took place a manager from your ministry's office of the Ontario public guardian trusty and safety violations charged against this home you claimed in this very house yesterday that the office of the public guardian trusty does not make personal decisions for their clients recommend or refer clients to this type of housing instead this office is satisfied with allotting the funds needed to sustain people and substandard housing and pass the buck on to the next ministry minister will you admit that because your government's inability to provide quality services to our most desperate citizens this tragedy occurred thank you very much Mr. Speaker again you know like I offer my deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the gentlemen that perish in after being in this building after the fire and it's very important that you know all the member all the agencies that deal with these individual work together to make sure that this does not happen again as I said yesterday you know we are not the agency that the member is speaking about are only responsible for administering the monetary administration but I know that the City of London is going to look into it and work with with our community and social services to make sure that this does not happen again thank you minister you're talking more about passing the buck down to the municipality of London maybe you should take a stand and stand up to the people of Ontario facility over a hundred times in 2014 red flags wherever were health, safety, fire and zoning violations but still some of the most vulnerable citizens in London were living in those conditions this tragedy could have been prevented if your government acted on the 2011 mental health strategy to ensure safe, stable housing instead that part of the strategy remains on a standing item at the deputy minister social policy committee your ministry needs to take action and demand answers about the strategy you owe it to the people of London minister were you confirmed today that your ministry will call a coroner's inquest into the death of Londoner Dave McPherson minister the minister of public safety and correction minister public safety thank you very much I appreciate the question from the member opposite and of course our condolences goes to the victims family for this tragedy and of course we all have to resolve that we prevent these type of tragedies from taking place the member raised the question around asking the coroner to do an inquest he knows quite well that a coroner is an independent officer who makes determination on the facts of the case on his own whether to hold an inquest or not there is no capacity or capability on part of the government or I as the minister of community safety and correctional services to ask the coroner to do an inquest so I leave it up to the coroner to make that determination the member from Parkdale Bay Park on a point of order thank you Mr. Speaker according to a standing order 99d ministries have 24 session days to answer written questions I want to draw your attention to page 14 on the order paper where I've asked three questions of the minister of transportation and have received absolutely no answer that is a point of order and I will remind the minister that indeed that the time frame in which they are to respond is on and I believe it's overdue so we'll make sure that happens the member from here on Bruce on a point of order thank you very much speaker I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the Ontario Environment Industry Association they represent some of Ontario's most active environment and clean tech companies we look forward to working with you in the coming year the member from Kitchener Waterloo on a point of order thank you Mr. Speaker I'd like to correct my record yesterday in responding to the economic fall economic statement I quoted that 53% of children in Toronto live in poverty I was quoting the poverty free Toronto report in fact the number is 63% of children in some Toronto neighborhoods live in poverty that is a point of order and all members are eligible to correct their own record minister of tourism culture and sport on a point of order I'd like to welcome former colleague from the House of Commons my friend Jennifer Sloan to the legislature welcome we have a deferred vote on the motion for allocation of time on bill 8 enact to promote public sector and NPP accountability and transparency by enacting the broader public sector executive compensation act 2014 calling the members this will be a five minute call members please take their seats all members take your seats please on November the 17th Mr. Nackney moved to government notice of motion number eight all those in favor of the motion please rise one at a time and be recognized by the clerk Mr. Nackney Mr. Braston Mr. Shirelli Mr. Sousa Mr. Whisk Mr. Hoskins Mr. Sandals Mr. Dugas Mr. Quinter Mr. Kohl Mr. Dillon Mr. Orzetti Mr. Grevelle Mr. McMeek Mr. Murray Mr. Chan Mr. Moeridi Mr. Kuto Mr. Flinn Mr. Albanaise Mr. Dixon Mr. Crack Mr. Wong Mr. Hunter Mr. Sergio Mr. Moro Mr. Jackson Mr. Del Ducat Mr. Demerlech Mr. Fraser Mr. Anderson Mr. Baker Mr. Ballard Mr. McMan Mr. Milchins Mr. Nadoo Harris Mr. Pots Mr. Rinaldi Mr. Grineel All those opposed please rise one at a time and be recognized by the clerk Mr. Clark Mr. Houda Mr. McCloud Ms. Elliott Mr. Wilson Mr. Yakibusky Mr. Samaskoka Mr. Dunlop Mr. McNaught Ms. Jones Ms. Thompson Mr. Monroe Mr. Scott Mr. Yure Mr. Hillier Mr. Walker Mr. Smith Mr. Harris Mr. Nichols Mr. Marteau Mr. Vanton Mr. Novo Mr. Tabens Mr. Miller Hamilton Mr. Taylor Mr. Natasha Ms. Armstrong Mr. Singh Ms. Forster Mr. Mansfield Ms. Campbell Mr. Gates Mr. Chimino Ms. French The ayes are 56 the nays are 45 The ayes being 56 and the nays being 45 I declare the motion carried Pursuant to standing order 38A the member from Kanora Rainey River has given notice of her dissatisfaction with the answer to her question given by the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry concerning the Fort Francis Mill this matter will be debated today at 6pm The member The member from Parkdale High Park asked on a point of order today The answers to your questions on the order paper have been tabled this morning There are no further debate, no further votes this house deferred votes this house stands recess until 3pm this afternoon