 It is now time for question period. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you kindly speaker. Speaker before I begin my first question to the Premier I do want to acknowledge that today is PSW Day and I can't imagine any other group more deserving of our praise and our thanks today. So happy PSW Day to all of us. Speaker the crisis in long-term care continues but the Premier has yet to commit to a public inquiry to a full independent public inquiry. Families and frontline workers deserve openness. They deserve transparency and the concrete change that can only come with a full and open public inquiry. A government commission is simply not good enough. If the Premier is truly committed to getting answers and ensuring all voices are heard why is he refusing to commit to an independent public inquiry? The Premier to reply. Thank you Mr. Speaker and I also want to thank all the PSWs out there for doing an incredible job. They come in day after day and put the community and patients ahead of themselves. So again thank you. Mr. Speaker we've been clear that we will review the long-term care system once we get through this pandemic. I have said over and over again to the public that we have a broken system and we're going to get down to the bottom of it. Now we're going to get down to a bottom of it Mr. Speaker to expedite the problems that we have seen to make sure they get fixed as we're fixing long-term care on a daily basis. We have a broken system and I'm not going to stand up here and politicize that it's happened under the previous government with the support of the NDP. I'm not going down that road. We have an issue and together we should all work together to make sure we fix the system. Thank you. The supplementary question. Well Speaker families who have lost loved ones, nurses and PSWs who have put their health and safety on the line won't be heard in another back room process. Past public inquiries have been called following a single death. Over 1300 seniors have died in long-term care. Why does the Premier think they don't deserve a full independent public inquiry? Premier through you Mr. Speaker we're going to wait years for an inquiry to return the results. It's very simple. We need to fix it now. Ontario deserves more. The people, the families deserve more and a quicker result. That's why an independent nonpartisan and I repeat nonpartisan commission is the best way to conduct a thorough and expedited review. Thank you. The final supplementary. Well Speaker the Premier will know that the Ontario command of the Royal Canadian Legion wrote him this week about the crisis in long-term care. In fact I have a copy of the letter right here and it can go over to the Premier via a page if that's appropriate at this time. And what they say in the letter is that they're concerned about the government's refusal to even respond to previous concerns that they've raised with this government. They've told us veterans are quote dehydrated and malnourished and some have been quote left in diapers for days on end. These brave women and men fought for our country. They shouldn't have to be fighting for their lives now that they're in long-term care. They are demanding answers Speaker. They don't want the Premier to hide behind a backroom government controlled commission. They deserve a full public inquiry and so my question to the Premier is why will he not side with the veterans of the Royal Canadian Legion and call for a complete full public inquiry. Thank you. Minister long-term care reply for the government. Thank you Speaker and thank you for the question. All Ontarians deserve answers to what has transpired and that's why we are creating an independent commission to address questions surrounding this. Ontarians have lost. They have losses of their loved ones. Our government is committed to taking every measure possible using every tool possible. When we look at the public inquiry from the wet law for case Justice Galicia's public inquiry we were acting on that as soon as we became a ministry of long-term care last summer. It took two years. Time is of the essence. Ontarians deserve to get the care that they need. We cannot lose more time. Our government has been working since the onset to look at staffing response capacity look at wait lists expert panel for staffing strategy. We have been moving decisively and swiftly because Ontarians deserve it. And that's what we're doing. Thank you very much. The next question the leader of the opposition. Thank you Speaker. My next question is also to the Premier. The reality is that people have been raising the alarm bells on long-term care for years now. The president of the Royal Canadian Legion notes in his letters to the government that he has written many times. He has written on behalf of veterans and has never actually received a reply. Frontline workers in long-term care tell very similar stories speaker. They've also been calling for a public inquiry. No one has asked for yet another for government controlled commission. We owe it to the thousands of staff and residents who lost their lives to get to the bottom of this. We owe it to their family members to their friends to their communities. We owe it to them speaker. If the premier won't listen to veterans groups will he listen to health care heroes who put their lives on the line every single day of this crisis. A full independent public inquiry. Mr. Long-term care. Thank you Speaker and thank you again for the question. Looking across the globe we've seen COVID-19 impacting our elderly across the country across the globe. Ontario is no different. When we look at what has transpired in our long-term care homes it is a tragedy and we need to address that tragedy but we cannot lose time. There is a sense of urgency. Our residents in long-term care need the care they need to be looked after. We need to address the staffing. We need to look at capacity after 15 years decades of neglect of this sector. Here is where we are. Look around. Many of you were here making decisions about long-term care. We need to move forward and we need to move forward now. We cannot lose time. Years cannot go by before we address the critical issues in long-term care and that's exactly what we're doing. Looking at staffing. Looking at capacity. Frontline health workers, veterans, health experts are all calling for a full independent public inquiry and so are families who are lost or who are concerned about loved ones that they have lost or who are still working on the front lines. In fact last week we received a letter from Gord whose sister-in-law is a PSW working in a long-term care home. He told us that the home his sister works in wasn't just unprepared for the COVID-19 crisis but that they have no plan to deal with the residents who tested positive and the workers there still don't have access to proper PPE. Gord and his family deserve answers speaker. He is joining others and calling for a full public inquiry. Not a government controlled commission. People deserve more than a government controlled commission. Will the Premier give that to them? Minister of long-term care. Thank you Speaker and thank you again for the question. This is a nonpartisan independent commission and that is absolutely key to keep advancing the reforms that are needed in long-term care. We saw under the previous government a neglect of this sector only 611 beds were built between 2011 and 2018. We know that we need to keep moving on long-term care. Our residents deserve it. Their families deserve it. Looking around the world you can see how families and residents of long-term care have been impacted. An independent commission will provide us the answers that we need in a timely way so we can keep advancing long-term care. We know that there were numerous measures in terms of PPEs, in terms of testing that need addressing and our government has been working across ministries to address those issues. We need to move forward. Thank you. Thank you. The next question the leader of the opposition. Speaker I think this is the final in my second question but final sup okay that's fine no problem but what I do want to do is make sure that the minister of long-term care has actually read her government's press release because it speaks specifically to a government controlled process government controlled terms of reference government controlled appointees on this commission that is not public speaker that is not independent that is not transparent the newly formed seniors advocacy advocacy group for seniors social action Ontario has also been calling for an independent public inquiry into the high infection and death rates in Ontario's long-term care facilities they agree that a government controlled commission just isn't good enough and say and I quote a review like that proposed by the minister of long-term care is not enough and would only serve to keep information from the public and protect the interests of the multinational companies that own many of these homes rather than the interests of the residents that reside in them perhaps that's why they're doing a commission will the premier do the right thing do what seniors are asking for and agree to a full public inquiry into long-term care. Mr long-term care thank you speaker and thank you once again for the question this is a non-partisan independent commission there is too much at stake to wait the wet law for inquiry went from 2017 and to that to 2019 order two years we cannot okay the house will come to order this house has declared a state of emergency in the province of Ontario I would expect a certain standard of decorum in question period today I apologize to the minister of long-term care. Thank you speaker looking at the years of neglect the staffing crises the capacity crises all of these were contributing factors we know issues are in the long-term care system in terms of justice glee she called the system strained under COVID-19 it is broken we do not need to take years and years identifying the issues many of the issues are clear and we need to be acting decisively on those now our Ontarians all Ontarians deserve it residents of long-term care and their families deserve advancement in long-term care the next question the leader of the opposition thank you speaker my next question is to the premier but I look forward with for then the a permanent increase in wages for psw's sick days benefits pensions full-time jobs I think those things can be fixed just like that let's hope the government does it the questions to the premier doctors are also raising concerns speaker Dr. Janice Lissard who specializes in seniors care says this and I quote the people of Ontario deserve to know the facts about their long-term care system independently from government as well as make recommendations based on their desires and values for the redesign of a long-term care system that will be part of their own aging in the years to come only a public inquiry can do this or can accomplish this and quote will the premier do the right thing and listen to the doctors nurses veterans and families calling for an independent public inquiry into long-term care ministered long-term care to reply on behalf of the thank you speaker and thank you again for the question if we look back over the last 20 years two decades what we've seen is societal neglect of long-term care governments after government has neglected and ignored the needs of long-term care residents their staff and how long-term care can be integrated into the health care system as a whole we have learned lessons from COVID-19 we have learned how important it is to integrate our long-term care system with the acute care system how our hospital expertise can help our long-term care homes we've learned how a merciless enemy arrives invisibly in our long-term care homes and how we need testing and PPE and measures increasing to reduce the entry of this beast into our long-term care response every government has been responsible for ignoring long-term care we are changing that our government will make a difference for long-term care well it seems the premier thinks a government-controlled commission is good enough for Ontarians but for everyday Ontarians like Ramona Cole they tell us that the only way we'll get to a bottom the bottom of what happened in long-term care homes is through a full independent public inquiry Ramona has been calling for an inquiry into long-term care since 2017 it's unfortunate when the Liberals had the chance they didn't call a full broad public inquiry into long-term care unfortunately but what what Ramona says is this and I quote heroic frontline workers are overworked and underpaid but without a public inquiry our overworked heroes will go back to the status of overworked unsung heroes please do the right thing will the government listen to people like Ramona and ensure that all the voices of Ontarians are heard in a full independent public inquiry thank you speaker and thank you again for the question it is personal support worker day and I want to make sure that they are acknowledged in the way that is necessary for the efforts that they have made valiantly on the front lines of long-term care our long-term care homes have been the front lines and if we look at the pandemic pay that we brought forward to recognize their efforts above and beyond what anybody should have to go through we recognize the importance of personal support workers and all staff serving on the front lines we have recognized and acknowledged that and the measures that we have taken looking at COVID-19 the the damage that it's done to our long-term care system we have addressed the staffing issues we have an expert panel looking into this as we speak to provide and inform us how to move forward after COVID-19 response COVID-19 has broken long-term care our government is fixing it thank you the next question the member for flamboyant flamboyant good morning mr speaker and my question is to the premier premier many of my constituents are grateful for all of the hard work sacrifice and dedication from our frontline workers because of their actions we continue to see fewer and fewer cases being reported and more individuals recovering last week our government had some positive news about how the province will slowly ease restriction allowing for more businesses to open while ensuring health and safety standards are maintained speaker can the premier share with the legislature what today's phase one reopening means for my constituents and the rest of the province premier mr speaker i want to thank the member from flamboyant glanbrook for a question we're getting thousands of people back to work we laid a solid foundation for economic reopening and recovery we have the framework we have the workplace safety guidelines we have the capacity in our health care system but most of all mr speaker we have some of the most talented people anywhere in the world right here in Ontario and as of today we are entering a new stage stage one of reopening of our province we can reopen retail stores with street entrance that are not located in shopping malls with strict social distancing measures in place this includes other seasonal venues like outdoor sports fields certain health and medical services and the lifting of essential construction limits to allow construction to resume thank you supplementary question my question is back to the premier premier this is excellent news and shows how ontario's steady scientific-based approach is working i know that many of my constituents will be happy about the reopening of seasonal venues during this time including outdoor sports fields tennis courts and off-leash dog parks as people are becoming active further the restarting of critical construction projects demonstrates the continued importance of infrastructure projects that will serve the people of this province premier please share with the legislature how our government will ensure that health and safety is protected while still being able to reopen the economy the premier again mr speaker i want to thank the member from flamborough glambrog i want to be clear that businesses should open only if they're ready and i'll repeat that only if they're ready if you aren't ready then don't open ontario's labor laws are clear businesses must protect the health and safety of their workers and customers our inspectors are visiting workplaces to ensure everything is being done to keep workers safe and through our great minister of labor have compiled over 90 guidelines for different workplaces if we follow the medical advice if we take our time and get it right then we'll be able to open more businesses get people back to work where they want to get to mr speaker we have a long way to go we have a long road to recovery but let's take some time today response and be grateful for how far we've all come thank you very much the next question the member from london fanshaw thank you speaker my question is to the premier families with loved ones in care have been clear the crisis we are seeing in long-term care demands a full public inquiry i know the premier has received letters from families across ontario including ones from veterans and family councils in long-term care homes across ontario rick mckelstrom is a family council chair at henley place long-term care which saw an outbreak of covid 19 last march he writes quote as a member of a family council of long-term care home hit hard by covid 19 i know that families like mine want to know why our loved ones have been put at risk by covid 19 and frankly the realities of ontario's broken long-term care system i am urging you today to support a full public inquiry into long-term care in ontario and quote will the premier support rick's request minister long-term care to apply for the governor thank you speaker ontarians do have questions and they deserve to be answered and that's exactly what we're doing with an independent commission that will be non-partisan and from the outset of this pandemic our government has been decisive we have acted swiftly and responsibly we have created a number of measures to support our long-term care homes including bringing in the canadian armed forces integrating hospital infection prevention and control teams rapid response teams into our homes to help with staffing we've issued over three emergency orders two amendments to regulations to provide important aspects to staffing flexibility and some of the decisions have been very hard including the essential visitors only we've taken measure after measure after measure to defend our loved ones in long-term care homes we've done it consistent response and even before as soon as we were a dedicated ministry we were looking to reform and rebuild long-term care this is ongoing our government will persist speaker i hope this government will actually listen to the calls on this house for a full public inquiry if this is not the time i don't know when is rick is far from alone anna tromblay writes quote as a member of the catholic women's league of canada i urge you to launch a public inquiry to examine conditions and problems in print in the present system if there's one thing we've learned during this pandemic is that the most vulnerable people in our society need protection and quote the reverend doctor peter vanc of markham writes quote i have personally been involved with care homes for many years as a volunteer primarily as a visitor of practitioners i have watched the continued deterioration of care despite the dedication and efforts of the many staff there needs to be a comprehensive evaluation provided by a public inquiry end quote question speaker will the premier heed the words and commit to a full public inquiry today ministered long-term care thank you speaker i want to acknowledge long-term care and the quality of care that needs to be provided across ontario for our loved ones as a family doctor over 30 years ago i started in long-term care i know the sector well i've lived it personally as well with my own family members i know how important it is for people to have the care that they need when they need it and that's why our government is looking to address questions surrounding the covet nineteen pandemic with an independent commission that is non partisan there is a sense of urgency we must keep reforming rebuilding and advancing long-term care that it's been so badly neglected for decades this has been building for decades and now covet hits and it has broken our system we will rebuild it we will reform response we will move long-term care forward for each and every ontarian who deserves the high quality care that ontario can provide thank you the next question the member for scarborough gildewood thank you speaker and i too want to acknowledge our personal support workers on this day of acknowledgement i know how hard they're working on the front lines and some have even given their lives during this pandemic my question is to the minister of long-term care speaker our long-term care system is in crisis and the minister herself has said that covet has broken the system but despite the government's promise and commitment to put an iron ring around long-term care there have been unacceptable delays to the actions taken by the government and there have been gaps in the response and this has resulted in avoidable deaths whether it's those who are working on the front lines or the residents that reside there during covet 19 and the government has said time and time again that they are responding and yet since i asked my first question on march 11 for restricted access to these facilities those actions continue to be delayed my question today is will you use the power that you've granted yourself to take over those facilities that are currently in outbreak so that we thank you very much minister of long-term care swiftly and decisively as early as february 3rd bringing guidance to protect and contain long term covet 19 and long-term care homes we acted every few days there was an action this was throughout the process in the last few months so we have acted decisively on this and i would ask you know the opposition and and the member sitting across where were you on february 3rd and after you didn't raise raise a single question after the house returned on covet 19 on coat no not between february 8th 18th and 21st so where was the opposition where were you so i'm saying to you we all have a responsibility to make sure that our residents in long-term care get the support that they need response we have an emergency order that will be used to support homes in crises when needed and it will be used if needed thank you supplementary question speaker i i'm very shocked at the response from the minister and just check answered on march 11 i asked this government to put restrictions on access to long-term care to keep those who are residing there safe that was asked and you know it's it's not about at this stage pointing fingers it's about taking decisive action it's about doing what is required to keep people in those homes safe and if you see an issue that needs to be resolved i urge you to take immediate and decisive action this government has put aside a billion dollars for covet response utilize those resources that are available to you to save lives the dignity of the people who reside in those settings deserve it question my question to you is will the government go beyond an internal review that you can control to do a full transparent and independent public inquiry so that the families and thank you very much thank you minister of long-term care to reply and to the member opposite if i in fact have misinformation on that i apologize to you um so i appreciate what you're bringing forward i would have to say that we have acted decisively and swiftly through all of this this is a global pandemic moving swiftly across the world affecting our seniors and our elderly in long-term care at a devastating rate ontario is not alone in this this is happening across the world across the country and we are taking decisive action and we have from the very beginning we have taken measure after measure our government has acted swiftly and decisively it is a new virus the science is emerging it will continue to evolve and that is not politics that is science so we have to make sure we continue to take action and we will do that a public inquiry will slow our action it will delay our reforms we need a sense of urgency thank you next question remember for simple great to the minister of health in february i asked if the minister would commit to negotiating an agreement with the pharmaceutical firm vertex for lifesaving cystic fibrosis medication since that time a lot has happened that frankly has only made the situation worse and even more dire for patients cystic fibrosis is a disease that affects the lungs and breathing much like COVID the COVID-19 virus catching COVID-19 would be a death sentence for children like the two young boys of jamie and sasha la rock who live in my writing speaker the government has put billions into this pandemic to help people suffering from breathing issues why won't the government give the same consideration to cystic fibrosis patients who are presumably at much greater risk of complications if they contract COVID-19 the minister of health to reply speaker and thank you very much to the member for the question i know this has been important to you for a number of years and you've been a very strong advocate for patients with cystic fibrosis but we also take this situation very very seriously and we know that when there's new emerging drug technologies coming forward that patients are very anxious about that especially with more rare disease conditions or health conditions and so it's it's even more important that some of these solutions come forward and we have been working on that we have not given up on the challenge that patients with cystic fibrosis face so we have been working with vertex the manufacturer of the three major drugs being used for cystic fibrosis or to be used for that purpose or can be sim deco and chicafta what we have had meetings recently in march and even into april with vertex response provincial federal and territorial partners but we understand that the recent offer vertex presented does not address the concerns that were raised by the pan canadian pharmacist thank you very much thank you supplementary question well thank you speaker thank you to the minister i'm glad to hear you're at least at the table with with vertex and appreciate that on behalf of cf patients you mentioned the drug or camby which is available at this time and approved made by the same company but as you know the prescribing criteria that your ministry has attached to this medication is so cumbersome that not a single ontario cystic fibrosis patient has ever had access to our camby because of the prescribing criteria so i asked you today on behalf of those patients who would benefit greatly particularly during this time of the virus the covid-19 virus since your ministry put the criteria on clearly your ministry has the power to loosen that criteria and give it give cystic fibrosis patients access to our camby a drug that we all agree is essentially a miracle drug for these patients i'd ask you to loosen that criteria today and let those patients breathe and breathe freely minister of health well thank you we continue to review the criteria but there's also the fact that the offer that vertex put forward didn't satisfy the pan canadian pharmaceutical alliance and while that's disappointing of course we're continuing our negotiations with vertex with respect to that issue we also want to make sure that they can bring their other drugs forward as well that we understand that sim deco has not yet been submitted to catas the canadian agency for drugs and technologies and health for approval and tracafta has not yet been submitted for health canada approval so there's still many steps that vertex needs to take but we recognize that we need to continue to do our work as well because we know that the health of many young people in particular with a cystic fibrosis depend upon that so notwithstanding all of the work that we're doing for covid-19 we're not letting those current concerns sit aside we're continuing to work on them response hope that we will have a response from vertex very soon that's going to satisfy this the criteria that they're put to the next question the member for tamiskaming cocker my question to the premier the premier and the minister of health stated last week that ontario has been a national and international leader of per capita covid-19 testing the data shows something else yesterday ontario finished just 91 9155 tests less than half of premier's own target today's numbers are even lower 5,813 the province lags behind the northwest territories alberta and novice scocia on a per capita basis that's not a national leader worldwide the united states is completing more per capita testing than ontario why is the premier said ontario's per capita testing is world leading when the data shows otherwise the premier has said that our testing capacity is world leading because it's actually true i think that people of ontario need to know that ontario is the the leader in canada for testing and we have seen the changes that week to week there is always a lag on mondays days volumes for tuesday because of some of the issues with transportation with couriers and so on that doesn't mean that we're falling behind in fact we've met our testing capacity 91 of the time we're continuing to increase testing we've expanded our lab capacity besides the work that's being done by public health ontario we've included it to over 22 partners with university labs hospital labs and private labs being included and we know that this is really important as we open up the economy that testing is going to continue to be very important response as i said before ontario is the leader in canada in testing now the supplementary question the government's own initial target was 18 900 tests per day by mid april not once in april did the government meet that target and since that since that target was to be met on terror average less than 13 000 tests a day testing targets are important because they allow public health officials to trace where this virus has spread in the community and to try to stop its spread on sharia ontario should be leading the country with tests there's no reason why we're not in alberta their government has injected further funding into their public lab system to ensure their testing capacity has increased why isn't ontario means meeting its own testing targets and what has caused ontario's leg is it funding is it a lack of testing equipment or something else minister of health well in fact as i've indicated ontario is leading canada in terms of testing we have exceeded the capacity we had over 19 000 tests we continue to have tests um other than on mondays for the reasons which i've already explained with a significant number of tests which we know are going to have to continue and ontario did make 100 million dollars available through our action plan in additional investments for public health units to support covid 19 testing including funding to support enhanced contact tracing as well so we know that what we need to do is continue our testing of vulnerable populations we have completed our testing of all long-term care residents and staff we are now moving into testing residents of retirement homes group homes other places of congregate living including shelters we also are making sure if we we've expanded our testing so that if someone is symptomatic response to one of our assessment centers they will be tested and we also need to increase our surveillance testing in the general population as we open the economy so we can determine the effects of the opening on our public health generally we continue to do the next question remember for gondola east well thank you very much mr speaker um for my question i'd like to personally thank the premier and the minister of health for directing the government to collect covid 19 race-based data i know there's a lot of people out there that appreciate it thank you so much speaker my question is to the premier premier last week you released the government's plan to reopen the economy as a result parents have been calling my office concerned about how to how do they return to work while their kids are still at home through you mr speaker does the premier have a plan to help parents with child care at least some alternative so they can participate in opening up our economy thank you recognize the minister of education to reply on behalf of the government thank you very much thank you member officer for the question obviously we appreciate for well speaker the importance of child care and home care to enable parents to return to labor market later today the premier the deputy premier and i will be making an announcement on the future of keeping kids safe while they learn at home that will include components dealing with child care what i could confirm to the member is that we're proud that over 15 1600 students every day are receiving emergency child care in this province to support our frontline heroes and workers making a difference in covid 19 our expectation is child care will reopen over time subject to strict public health guidance to ensure we keep these children safe in this province supplementary question thank you even before the pandemic began we were facing a child care crisis here in Ontario both in terms of cost and space available and with social distancing guidelines in place we will see less capacity within the sector this will put our province's economic recovery in jeopardy as many parents will not be able to return to work premier many other many ontarians will be forced to choose between staying at home with their kids or letting the bills continue to pile up opening up the economy must include massive planning investment and expansion of publicly funded child care so speaker what is the premier's plan and who will he direct his government to invest resources into creating more child care spaces so parents can get back to work the minister of education thank you speaker and thank the member opposite again for the question speaker just when it comes to enabling our economic recovery obviously we want to make sure the sustainability of the child care sector and I'm proud that in partnership with the federal government with minister Ahmed Hussein we have landed a I think positive plan that's going to help ensure these operators remain strong and that these child care spaces remain accessible to parents we're doing that through providing the rent subsidy which the province is participating 37 percent in that investment for those operators that participate we're also ensuring the federal wage subsidy has been expanded to include child care operators and at the ministry of education we've expanded our operating support to enable some additional supports for those operators dealing with enhanced cost fixed costs in the province of Ontario speaker that's going to ensure the system is strong when it comes to parents we put an emergency order that denies operators from charging them for service not rendered that was important from a consumer protection perspective when it comes to money in the parent pockets of parents $200 per child under 12 250 per child under 21 in the pockets of every working parent in this province to help them get through this difficult time the next question the member for nickle belt it's so frustrating hearing that the front line people are having problem getting the PPE those are words from the premier and I agree in my constituency of nickle belt have been contacted by a chiropractor occupational therapists physiotherapists nurses family physician psw the list goes on all of them continue to say that they cannot get PPE that they are not properly protected to do their job and workers in long-term care homes across the province are still struggling to access PPE that are either kept under lock and key or are not available at all why have frontline staff or healthcare heroes not been provided the personal protective equipment to protect them from the spread of COVID-19 minister of health thank you very much to the member for the question this is vitally important we do have frontline healthcare heroes that go to work each and every day including our personal support workers who stay we're celebrating today we want to make sure that they are protected both for themselves as well as for their families when they go home so we want to make sure that they have the personal protective equipment that they need to continue to do their great work which we do have despite an international surge in demand for PPE we are still placing our regular orders we're placing new orders wherever we can and we're working with some great Ontario companies that are able to produce these pieces of equipment including gowns hand sanitizer ventilators masks and other support equipment we want to make sure that they have it on the front lines we're going to continue to do that despite the the demand response that's the very least that we can do for them they are doing all of the work for us it's our duty and it's something that the Premier and I and many other members of government are working on on a daily basis to get more PPE to send to our front line thank you the supplementary question thank you speaker too many healthcare and other essential workers had to beg to get the proper PPE at work the Premier has asked people to call him speaker there has to be a better solution than demanding frontline workers take time away from their job of caring for us to be on hold with the Premier's office to get the PPE that they need now that other areas of the economy is opening up the risk for workers to go without proper PPE is even greater the Premier and the Minister insist that appropriate PPE is available then how can they explain that why are frontline healthcare workers still telling me that they are struggling to gain access to PPE and why are so many workers getting infected getting sick and dying Minister of Health well it is vitally important that our frontline healthcare workers have the appropriate level of PPE to wear depending on what procedure they are going through if it's aerosol generating procedure they will need an N95 mask we know that there are other procedures that will require that too that said we have a system for delivery to hospitals long-term care homes retirement homes if they need PPE which they give us on a daily inventory it is sent to them they have it whether they use it or not in some of those centres is a different question and we've had a situation where we have had hospitals that have gone in to assist some of these long-term care homes with providing the infection procedures and control in some cases providing staff members because some people have fallen ill or they're just not coming in because they're afraid of falling ill so we need to make sure that we figure out why that's not response the hospitals and then they're doing their work and they are coming in oftentimes with their own supply of PPE to make sure that their workers are protected as well as the existing workers are protected so that is one of the questions that we need thank you very much thank you the next question the member for Key White and Good morning speaker my question is for the premier first nations and Key White have been been doing everything possible to keep COVID-19 out of the communities they've gone through great lengths to keep communities safe such as implementing strict lockdowns and travel restrictions but this government needs to do more this government needs to do more to remedy the issues that to make first nations more to make first nations people more vulnerable to COVID-19 in the first place such as overcrowding of homes access to clean drinking water and lack of hospitals how is this government working with the the first nations on dealing with this pandemic the member very much for the question you're absolutely right that many first nations communities and and some indigenous communities are very vulnerable to COVID-19 for a whole variety of reasons but they first nations communities have been identified by us at the Ministry of Health as being a group of people that need to we need to work with to make sure that the that they receive the necessary supplies the nesting necessary testing kits and so on my colleague the Minister of Indigenous Affairs has been working very hard on this as we have with the Ministry of Health we have been on a number of phone calls with the regional chief Roseanne Archibald and as well as some of the other leaders to understand what the needs are and to make sure that those needs are met I know that my colleague the Minister of Indigenous Affairs actually when he flew north to Canora the last response took a plain load of equipment be in response to the needs that were expressed to him so I'll explain more my supplemental the supplementary question it's clear that the current situation poses a risk to the health of our communities in the north and that it's sired and the risks faced by most people in Ontario agencies and leadership in the north have a great deal of advice that this government should actually listen to on how and when the north should be reopened once the north is opened up again the second wave of of COVID-19 could spread to first nations across the north what is the government doing to listen and support communities and planning for that possibility thanks very much speaker and it's good to see the member opposite again after 10 weeks and thank you for bringing this question to us our government has acted and we acted quickly to meet the needs of those in our indigenous communities and working with the Minister of Indigenous Affairs Mr. Rickford who is doing great work in communities as the Minister of Health has alluded to on April 7th we were able to announce 37 million dollars in funding and that was going to support outbreak planning in those northern and rural and remote communities Mr. Speaker that money is being spent to provide prevention and mitigation efforts in those communities and ensure the health and well-being of those indigenous people and those communities at this particular time particularly those in those remote and northern communities that need the assistance so acting together across ministries with social assistance and the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and the Minister of Housing we were able to provide that funding to those vulnerable communities thank you the next question the member for Ottawa's house thank you Mr. Speaker my questions for the Premier and I want to start by thanking all the PSWs who are out there working hard in the front lines every day caring for the people that we care for most I want to begin the question this question by saying we all have questions here I know you have questions on the other side and I know we've announced or you've announced an independent commission inquiry I just would like to remind this house that the last independent commission of inquiry both the FAO and the Auditor General called some of those results into question that can't happen this time nobody can question the results of an inquiry we owe that to families we owe that to workers we must ensure judicial independence we need to get those questions answered you have the same questions I know you care the same amount but we can't do a half measure question so speaker I respectfully ask on behalf of families that the Premier reconsider and call a public inquiry minister long-term care thank you for the question Ontario families and residents of long-term care on wait lists let's call them on wait lists because they're not actually in long-term care 37 000 people on the wait list and growing that has been growing for years and years and years we need to understand how we can move forward in with a sense of urgency delaying our reforms and delaying the advancement of long-term care solutions will only mean more people waiting for care more people not being able to access the care they need we've seen the inaction by the previous government for 15 years we have seen the inaction and the the lack of of interest in COVID-19 from the opposition when it first began our government understands what needs addressing we have learned from COVID-19 we understand the issues a non-partisan independent commission will give us the best opportunity to provide the solutions and create the change that is needed for Ontarians across thank you very much the supplementary question that was a disappointing response Mr. Speaker so I don't understand the reluctance to allow judicial independence to look at our response because it's not just about the decisions that you made over here or maybe we made over there but it's other people who made those decisions outside of us that we live with you know that we can do we can walk and chew gum folks we can walk and chew gum we can have a commission and we have an independent inquiry nothing prevents us from doing that we owe that to people there are to sit you I know you have questions and you're not going to ask them out here but you have questions in your head about why do we do this and why didn't we do that and why did this happen under your watch under our watch under everybody's that's why we have to do it question for those families that independence is critical so again I asked the premier please reconsider thank you minister of long-term care thank you speaker and thank you again for the question what's truly disappointing is the neglect of the long-term care system for 15 long years that wait list grew or that wait list grew to the tens of thousands under the watch official opposition governor government so what I am truly disappointed in is the neglect independent members come to our previous government what we need to be doing is clear we need to be addressing the shortcomings in long-term care and that's exactly what we will be doing when you ask for a delay for a public inquiry for years you're asking to add to your legacy of neglect and I do not accept that we will move forward with long-term care getting people the care that they need when they need it and we will do it with a commitment that your government never had next question the member for university rose down thank you speaker my question is to the premier and tran owns barnoy a restaurant in my riding he is a new business owner and he has invested everything into his business before the pandemic hit barnoy was closed for construction but because of this crisis they still haven't been able to open aunt's family has a new baby and they're worried that if they don't get the support this government has promised was on the way they'll have to close for good businesses like barnoy are falling through the cracks and can't wait any longer why would this government do the right thing and give businesses the direct financial support they deserve minister financed reply speaker i thank thank the member for the question and i do thank the opposition party for its new found interest in small business and business i know i know that that community will appreciate it mr speaker as you know this legislature passed 10 billion dollars in support that included six billion dollars in support related to deferrals of taxes 1.8 billion guard to property taxes that we enabled municipalities to do 1.9 billion dollars in wsib supports we also mr speaker cut the taxes that the tax of the or the employer health tax by 355 million dollars so 90 of those businesses won't pay that tax this year mr speaker we also reduced electricity costs by 300 dollars for each business each month so mr speaker this is a government that understands the needs of business mr speaker we are pleased that the federally sponsored program that has been endorsed by all the provinces that we over a billion dollars in rent support will be coming online we understand that it will be made available this month and mr speaker that is the kind of support that small business is asking for and it's the kind of support that they've come to expect from this government thank you thank you mr speaker omega health and fitness is a family owned business with which employs 30 people and provides services to patients seniors and people with mobility issues actively reducing the number of people who need to visit the hospitals their landlord has been unwilling to negotiate and has refused to pay to apply for the ccra program they have now had to maximize their line of credits to pay the last two months rent and are worried they may not be able to pay the next month's rent mr speaker many other businesses are facing the exact same reality as omega health and fitness this government's lack of action resulted in many of these businesses to be evicted or threatened with eviction mr speaker too many businesses have already shut down too many families have already lost their livelihoods we cannot lose any more will this government commit to issuing a moratorium on business evictions now minister finance again mr speaker i thank the member for the question and again i know that businesses everywhere will be pleased next time we suggest a tax cut for small businesses which we did or next time we reduce regulations for small businesses which we've done that that your side will will support those as well because that's important to business mr speaker um what we have done and and as the premier has talked about it is in a prudent and safe way mr speaker presented our framework for reopening businesses so in addition to the sports i talked about in addition to the rent support which will be over a billion dollars for businesses in Ontario we have found a a safe and a sensible way to gradually open businesses like the ones that you've spoken up so mr speaker we are committed to getting those businesses open when it's safe in working with the the science and best health advice and mr speaker we will continue to support small businesses as we always have thank you next question the member for berlin thank you so much mr speaker mr speaker my question is to the premier during this pandemic i know that some of my constituents in burlington and across this province have experienced some food and product shortages whether it was reports of shortage of disinfecting wipes toilet paper are now increased demands for flour yeast and sugar in our food sector premier i know that these shortages are top of mind for you like many individuals in our government premier can you share with the legislature what our government is doing to ensure that the people of ontario will be able to continue to have access to the food and supplies that their families need during this time i want to thank the great member from from burlington for all the great work she's doing out there uh last last week mr speaker had a phone call with the consumer goods and and the food supply chain companies some of the largest in in the country they've been working around the clock to keep up with demand they've been adding shifts new lines to keep up with the demand on some of the critical items people enjoy baking now mr speaker so flour is going off the shelves quick east and hand sanitizers and other items but after speaking to them i'm happy to announce that we have enough essential items when we go into the store we can't be be you know clearing the shelves and putting in our basket we've got to be respectful to one another when you're when you're buying the toilet paper maybe get one pack instead of two but even the tissue companies are telling me they have more than enough capacity we just have to respect each other when we're going thank you very much the supplementary question speaker my question is back to the premier premier thank you for that answer and for your continued commitment and hard work to ensuring the people of this province have the supplies they need i want to take the opportunity to personally thank and commend the hardworking members of the agriculture community who are the backbone of our province's enormous and complex supply chain system they are on the front lines each day ensuring we have food on our tables and we have the products we need and our day-to-day lives that keep us healthy and connected speaker speaker through you can the premier elaborate on the support our government is continuing to provide to this sector going forward thank you thank you mr speaker and i want to thank the member from burlington i know that many of our farmers out there are struggling i had a conversation with many farmers last week with our great minister of agriculture mr speaker what i hear is they need help and they have an ally and a champion in our government what we need support we need support from the federal government organizations like the grain farmers they're they're in desperate need when we see what's happening south of our border in the united states when the the grain farmers are getting 19 billion dollars from their federal government it puts it puts us on an unfair competition so what we're going to do we're going to support our farmers but we can't do it alone mr speaker we need the support of the federal government and i've put all those of the federal government to support our farmers or salt of the earth thank you for being no deferred votes this house stands in recess until one p