 It's now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thanks very much, Speaker. My question this morning is for the Minister of Long-Term Care. We've now had three reports on the Government's failure in long-term care. Of course, the first was the Canadian Armed Forces report last year. Last week we had the Auditor General's report. And of course, on Friday of last week we received the Long-Term Care Commission's report. That was really devastating, Speaker, quite horrifying and painful to read in terms of some of the things that people shared with the Commission about what was happening in long-term care. But the failure of the Government was clear. The report says, and I quote, Alarm bells should have been ringing loudly in Ontario. There was no plan to protect residents in long-term care. Speaker, it was the Minister's job to protect seniors in long-term care. She failed. Will she do the right thing and resign? The Prime Minister of Long-Term Care. Thank you, Speaker. I want to, first of all, commend the Commission for their important and insightful work as well as the work done by the Auditor General to really go back and understand what brought us to the pandemic today and what we can do moving forward with the guidance. And they were very clear, both the Auditor General and the Commission report, about the many years of neglect of this sector, leading up to the sorry state that our Government found the long-term care sector in. And we were working very hard from the very beginning to make sure that the staffing crisis that predated the pandemic was addressed, the capacity issues, the 38,000 people on a wait list, all of these things needed to be addressed. And that's quite frankly why I came to politics is to fix a system so badly neglected by previous Governments and our Government is doing the work. Thank you. Well, Speaker, there's no denying that cuts and neglect by the Harris Government, the McGinty, Wynn, Del Ducca Governments, nobody's denying that that was the case. There's no argument there. But the report clearly shows that this Ford Government was making cuts that cost lives. They literally got rid of the comprehensive inspections back in 2018. In 2019, they were cutting long-term care and public health. It was this Minister's responsibility to protect our seniors in long-term care. She failed at that job. Will she now step down from her job? Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. As I said, the Commission has provided very important insight into the many years of neglect. As a family doctor, this is devastating to me to be able to, you know, to want to be able to help to have measures taken that simply did not accomplish the necessary prevention that was required. And the Commission talks about measures, additional measures that we can take to address this. This is foundational. This was also a collaborative approach. Many, many groups involved, Public Health Ontario, Ontario Health, a Ministry of Health, a Ministry of Labor Training and Skills Development, our local health integration networks. And the list goes on and on. Thousands of people have been working around the clock to address the crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic. And this is happening around the world. Our government is the first government in the history of this province to make the investments necessary to overcome the previous years of neglect. We will continue to do this. We will move forward with long-term care. We will continue to do the work until this sector is shored up the way it should have been done years. Thank you. The final supplement, please. Well, Speaker, the Minister doesn't want to take responsibility for what the Commission describes as this government's failure. So I'm going to remind her of something that they said, that there were no excuses for the deaths that occurred in the second wave. And I quote, the summer of 2020 was the time to prepare for the second wave, with the lessons learned from the first wave and a summer to fortify long-term care. It was reasonable to anticipate that the second wave would be less punishing than the first. That was not the case. The Commission showed there was no staffing plan put in place by this government. There was no infection prevention and control plan. No funding for extra resources in that regard. Homes were left to self-assess their ability to deal with COVID-19. That was this minister's job. It was her job to protect seniors in long-term care. She failed. Will she do the right thing and resign now? Minister of Long-term Care. Thank you, Speaker. Despite those remarks by the member opposite, they are simply unfounded. Our government has continued, and it's absolutely unfounded what you have just said. Our government has continued to work with our sector. The survey was one of many, many measures taken. We learned lessons in the first wave, an unknown virus not known to the world, global shortages of many, many things, and working around the clock to address the problems in the sector. The remarks by the member opposite are absolutely unfounded. The commission points over and over and over again to the long-standing systemic issues. We worked to shore up the staffing in the sector, hiring 8,600 and more staff into the sector with our pandemic pay. And the survey informed the fall preparedness plan. Each of our long-term care homes was receiving the support that our government collectively was organizing. And so, you know, when she talks about the things that she... Thank you. Thank you very much. The next question. Once again, the leader of the opposition. My next question is also for the Minister of Long-term Care. I did, however, send her over the direct quote from the commission that outlines the issues I just raised in my last question. But this question is about the ongoing failure of this minister and this government in long-term care. It's very, very clear that staffing remains a huge problem in this sector. We know that the staffing levels are in fact lower than they were in the first wave of COVID-19. But still, this government is not supporting the working folks that work in the sector. And in fact, what the government has done is basically call into question their ability to get this sector dealt with. They have not yet put in place what the commission says they should do immediately, increasing the wages of staff permanently, making sure those jobs are full-time jobs, permanent jobs, making sure that people have the staffing necessary in long-term care to receive four hours of hands-on care now. Not in 2025. Nobody believes that this minister will make those changes, that she'll bring those changes to Ontario. Will she resign now? Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. Those remarks are stunningly ignorant, and I say that... I'm going to caution the minister on her language and ask her to conclude her response. Thank you. And so the issue really is, if you want to have adequate staffing in long-term care, you want to have the necessary support for residents, you need to actually train the staff. And that's exactly what we're doing. To get to four hours of care, you need people who want to work in long-term care, who are trained to work in long-term care. And that's exactly what we've done. We hired over 8,600 into long-term care at the end of the first wave, into the second wave. Those measures were taken. We have 8,200 in the pipeline, 6,000 new and 2,200 already. We have another 8,000 coming through the district school board and private career colleges. We're using the public college system to train. We will have 10,000 within a year. That is far more than any previous government ever did. We are fixing this problem. Leader of the Opposition will come to order. And the Leader of the Opposition can ask herself a metric question. Thank you very much, Speaker. You know, the commission was also clear about the profit motive in long-term care. And I'm going to quote again from the commission's report. It's difficult to see how one can build a culture of excellence in care when care is only a means to profit. Now is the time to revisit the business of long-term care. You know, the Ford government should have been tracking down on long-term care. They should have been pulling licenses, Speaker. They should have been taking over those for-profit homes. But they didn't do any of that. Instead, what they did was stop the inspections and then remove any legal liability from the private for-profit long-term care sector. Speaker, they did exactly the opposite of what they should have been doing. How can this minister, who has relentlessly stood up for and approved of the for-profit model in long-term care, have the trust of the people of Ontario that they will do the right thing and get rid of the profit motive? Nobody believes they will. We'll resign. Thanks for the long-term care. Thank you, Speaker. And I think the magnitude of this problem has been building for many, many years. That's clear from the Auditor General. It's clear from the Commission's report. And we are taking action on this. The Commission is very, very clear that it's about being mission-driven, that it doesn't matter whether it's for-profit or not-for-profit or municipal. It's about the mission. If you read... If you bother to read the report, it is about being mission-driven. And our government is on a mission to repair long-term care that has been so badly neglected over many, many years, as demonstrated in the Auditor General's report, in the Commission for Long-Term Care report. It is very, very clear, and it is our government that is looking at new ways of understanding how we can separate the operations from the construction. It is this conservative government that is repairing and rebuilding long-term care. Despite the narrative being pushed down... The House will come to order. Leader of the Opposition, final supplementary. Speaker, some of these stories in that Commission report by family members and by staff were nothing short of horrifying. And I do want to thank those folks who re-traumatized themselves by sharing their stories. And here's one, and I quote, of all the pictures I have of my mother over the years, the one that's burned into my mind forever is her lying there in a wet diaper without even a blanket to cover her, with her arm up stretched in the air, begging for water, and asking God why he had forsaken her. Speaker, this can never happen again. It was that minister's job to protect seniors in long-term care, and she utterly failed. Will she do the right thing now and resign, step down from that post? She certainly has not done her job. Thank you, Speaker. As I've said many times, I take responsibility. I took responsibility for this before I even got to politics. Understanding and researching long-term care for almost 14 years to understand what we can do. I've repeatedly asked for order. I will have no choice but to move to warnings if members continue to ignore my requests for order. And I will apply to all members. Minister of Long-Term Care, please conclude your response. The key component to addressing this problem as we are doing is the action of taking responsibility. That's exactly what we're doing. And, you know, I went through this with my own family members. It is devastating. Certainly another level being with the pandemic. And I can only try to understand what families, residents and staff have gone through. But I understand the neglect of the long-term care sector and what it has meant for so many people, including my own family. And that's why we are repairing a broken system with unprecedented historic measures, not only plans for staff in capacity, I-PAC. Thank you. The next question, the member for Brampton Center. Thank you. And good morning, Speaker. My question is to the Deputy Premier. The COVID crisis in Brampton continues to spiral out of control. Eight of our neighborhoods now have positivity rates of over 20%. That's more than the provincial, double the provincial average speaker. For example, in communities in the postal code L6Y at Chacuzzi and Steels, we see a shocking positivity rate of 24%. In the postal code L6S at Williams Parkway in Bramley Road, we see positivity rates of 20% and upwards. Speaker, Brampton needs help. We are a city full of essential workers who keep this province moving. But the conservatives still refuse to step up and help. Our workers don't have enough paid sick days. They don't have access to vaccines. And our hospitals are overwhelmed. And experts have been clear. The inequity in this government's response has meant that Peele has not received its first share and we have been left behind. How much longer is the Premier going to let our city burn before she finally gets off the sidelines and does something to help the crisis in our country? Mr. Helt. Thank you, Speaker. And I would say to the member opposite through you, Mr. Speaker, that what you're suggesting is simply not the case. We recognize that at Peele, Brampton contained with Peele is a hotspot area as is Toronto and to some extent York. However, we made the decision following the recommendations of our medical experts last week because we are receiving considerably larger quantities of the Pfizer vaccine to dedicate 50% of the vaccines coming in over the next two weeks to be dedicated to those hotspot areas. There are 114 across Ontario, and definitely has a number of them. As a matter of fact, we are going to be during the month of May alone allocating 432,960 doses to Peele region which will make Peele the public health unit with the second highest doses per capita in the province and that comes simply after response. So there is a vast number of vaccines being delivered to Peele, recognizing it's one of the hotspots, recognizing that Brampton within Peele is a hotspot area. Thank you. I have a question. Speaker, while the Conservatives continue to ignore Brampton, our community is now taking it upon themselves to do the Premier's job. The Save Peele movement is made up of frontline workers, teachers, community organizations, health care workers and everyone in between all working together to try to convince this government to finally step up and get us the support we need. So my question again, Speaker, is when is this government going to finally step up with the supports we need to save Peele? That means real paid sick days prioritizing vaccinations to our community and giving us the supports we need to keep our families and essential workers safe. Thank you. Thank you. The number of vaccines being allocated to Brampton and Peele region as I indicated earlier the second highest in the province and we also have over 150 pharmacies in Peele, seven of which are going to be running 24-7 and six of those 24-7 pharmacies are in Brampton. We also have four hospitals offering the vaccines, hot spot pop-ups administering vaccines. We've had workplace clinics as well at Maple Leaf Foods, Maple Lodge Farms, Amazon, also with the BAPS complex and 40 primary care sites in Peele region. So we have quantities of vaccines coming in and we also have countless places for people to receive those vaccines and we encourage everyone over 18 who is now able to receive a vaccine in a hot spot area to please apply and please have your vaccine done as quickly as possible. Thank you. The next question the member for Scarborough Gildwood. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health. Through you Mr. Speaker, my writing of Scarborough Agent Court like all of Scarborough has been hearted by COVID-19. We know that vaccines are the way out of this pandemic. But until now, we haven't had the supply to make a difference in Ontario's hot spots. Can the Minister tell this House what we are doing to target our hot spots communities like Scarborough? Thank you very much. Minister of Health. Thank you very much to the member for Scarborough Agent Court for that very important question. Due to a stable and reliable increase in vaccines supply this week we are expanding our booking eligibility for COVID-19 vaccination appointments across the province. As of this morning at 8am individuals who are 18 and over in 2021 and live in one of the hot spot communities will be able to book a COVID-19 at a mass immunization clinic through the provincial online booking system or directly through public health units that use their own booking system and I'm very pleased to advise the speaker that as of this morning as since 8am over 73,500 appointments have been booked. This is great news for the people of Ontario and great news for the people who are living in the hot spot areas. Thank you Minister for your response. Please it is critical for the people in my riding to get these vaccines into arms as quickly as possible. Can the minister please tell this house what we are doing to support high risk Ontarians now that we finally have the supply to expand our vaccine prioritization. Minister Health. Thank you again for the question. Speaker beginning Monday 6 at 8am more groups throughout the province will be eligible to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment through the provincial online booking system and call center or directly through the public health units that use their own booking system. These groups include individuals turning 50 and over in 2021, individuals with high risk health conditions people who cannot work from home who fall under group one including remaining elementary and secondary school workers and first nations in wit and matey individuals in addition to the other channels previously available to book their appointment. We continue to increase the speed and scale of our vaccination program as we receive the significant new supplies from the federal government. Thank you speaker. Thank you speaker. My question is to the deputy premier speaker experts say this government's 11th hour capitulation on paid sick days is still too late to have an impact on reducing the spread. In a pandemic that requires 14 days to self isolate three paid days won't keep workers home when they are sick. Once the three days are used up workers who test positive or have to quarantine must go without pay and wait until the following week to apply for the federal program then wait some more until the benefit arrives. If this government cared about workers they would stay home when they have COVID without risking their own financial security. That means covering 14 paid days of infectious disease emergency leave. Why did the government not do this? Mr. Laidler Well thank you very much and I first want to begin by thanking the member opposite her party as well as the opposition parties for supporting our legislation last week to bring in 23 days to stay home. Mr. Speaker I'm proud to say that we were able to pass that legislation because of the support of all members in this house in record time. Mr. Speaker the health and safety of all workers remains our government our government's top priority that's why the very first action we took as a government was to bring in a job protected leave if any worker has to stay home because of COVID-19 they can't be fired for that. We introduced last week our paid leave plan to ensure that workers across the province have 23 paid sick days. Mr. Speaker given the frustration that thousands of Ontario small businesses are experiencing with the small business grant program there's not a lot of employer confidence that they will be reimbursed quickly by the WSIB for the three paid sick days. For years WSIB has faced chronic under staffing problems a massive new workload will be required to administer the new program which means hiring and training sufficient staff. Injured workers are already waiting far too long for WSIB claims to be resolved. Will this government commit to providing adequate staffing and training resources for workers at the WSIB to administer the new program so that struggling small businesses aren't stretched even further and injured workers aren't forced to wait even longer? Mr. Speaker well Mr. Speaker again I thank the member opposite in her party as well as the independence for supporting our legislation so we could get that piece of legislation last week through the legislature quickly but Mr. Speaker one of the reasons why our plan is balanced is the fact that small businesses and employers are going to get reimbursed and Mr. Speaker we've seen a number of private members bills come forward at Queens Park over the last couple of weeks that we're going to put 100% of the costs on small businesses which would have forced thousands of small businesses into bankruptcy and would have ensured that workers would not have had a job to go back to when we get through COVID-19. Our plan ensures that workers get paid and small businesses and employers get reimbursed quickly as well. Next question Mr. Speaker my questions for the minister of long-term care on Friday the independent long-term care commission released her final report amongst other things it highlights a lack of a sense of urgency it goes on to say the province's response was slow, reactive critical decisions came too late days make a difference delay is deadly there are 85 recommendations made by the commission there are specific provisions around accountability and enforcement it says repeated findings of non-compliance must be met with consequences of increasing severity including mandatory management orders and transfer of licenses so speakers for you will the minister be adopting the recommendations of the commission with regards to accountability and enforcement minister of long-term care thank you speaker and thanks to the member opposite for that important question clearly the neglect of the long-term care sector had been for many years the commission on long-term care is very clear about that and looking at how we can make sure that our staff are supported in long-term care and that residents can in turn support residents in long-term care requires not only transparency good communication and enforcement but it also requires the spending that is required to shore up the staffing as our government is doing 115 million to create 8200 more PSWs for long-term care through the public college system another 8000 through the district school board and private career college this is going to amount to 10,000 more staff for long-term care this is unprecedented in the history of long-term care to address these staffing challenges and also you know the capacity so absolutely transparency is key as well as accountability it must be also through supportive measures that allow the workers to do their jobs thank you supplementary I think I heard a yes there and I do want to remind the minister that we did take way longer to staff up in the second wave than other provinces very clearly like Quebec but you had the tools before this pandemic bill 160 strengthened quality and accountability for patients act passed in December 2017 the bill creates greater standards in long-term care homes and enforces greater penalties for home operators who do not adhere to these standards it outlines new rules on the treatment of residents and raises the bar on accountability and inspections the bill received royal assent you decided against increased accountability and inspections you decided against stronger penalties for home operators you decided against increased care standards and protecting our most vulnerable so speakers through you simple question bill 160 it's there it's ready to go the long-term care provisions will the minister enact them minister of long-term care thank you speaker first of all I'd like to clarify some of the comments made by the member opposite our government was able to hire 8600 and more people into long-term care between the first wave and the second wave through the pandemic pay we were shoring up long-term care as we were dealing with not only the pre-existing crises of staffing but the pandemic and so we understand the importance of transparency the member opposite likes to use Quebec as an example they did not hire PSWs they were trained in a matter of weeks we were creating a reserve support workforce for seniors we were creating many supports for our long-term care homes as we went and I think that that's important to clarify transparency and accountability are key and our government will consider the recommendations by the commission and we will definitely make sure that we take their recommendations to heart they are very insightful and once again I want to thank the commission for doing this important work and for being transparent about it and for getting it done on time thank you thank you the member for Scarborough Agent Court thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker my question is for the Solicitor General in my riding and across the Scarborough I hear from many constituents like child care workers who cannot work from home they are an excuse to get their vaccines so they can continue to provide high quality care to our children order can the minister please tell this house what we are doing to support the order government house leader will come to order the member for Ottawa South will come to order the member for Don Valley West will come to order the response Solicitor General a really important question and frankly a new pathway of this coming week so thank you for the member from Scarborough Agent Court for raising it as the minister of health said starting on Thursday this Thursday May 6 that 8 a.m. even more Ontarians who cannot work from home will be eligible to book their vaccine appointment those include remaining elementary and secondary school workers including educators, custodial, bus drivers and administrative staff remaining workers responding to critical events including police, fire, special constables children's aid societies workers emergency management critical infrastructure restoration workers and remaining individuals working in licensed child care settings including all licensees, employees and students on educational placements who interact directly with children in licensed child care centers and in authorized recreation and skill building programs licensed home care child care and in home service providers employees of home care child agencies foster care agenda workers including customer care providers you know speaker we vaccinated five million Ontario adults and we will continue to do that as our supply increases thank you supplementary Mr. Speaker, thank you to the minister for that answer I know many of my constituents are excited to finally be able to book their vaccine appointment there is a finally light at the end of the tunnel for Scarborough Agent Court Mr. Speaker in addition to child care workers there are many more essential workers in Scarborough can the minister tell this house if there are any additional groups that will be able to start booking this Thursday thank you thank you general there are speaker and I'm very pleased to share as I said five million Ontario adults have already received their first dose and starting on Thursday we have an additional group that are eligible to book online food manufacturing and distribution workers agriculture and farm workers funeral crematorium and cemetery workers enforcement inspection and compliance roles including bylaw enforcement building inspectors food inspectors animal welfare inspectors border inspector inspection officers labor inspectors and WSIB field workers now we said from the very beginning when we made our official framework that individuals who could not work for home would get access to the vaccine as soon as we had sufficient supply I am thrilled to be able to share with the house today that happens Thursday thank you next question later the opposition thanks speaker I have another question for the minister of long-term care speaker I quoted a story from a resident here's a couple from PSW's in long-term care from the commission report and I quote I couldn't get to a resident fast enough that was asking for some water so here I am still struggling with the thought of is she thirsty still on her journey because I couldn't get the water to her fast enough by the time I'm going for the water someone else is calling or calling out another quote how many PSW's how many health care workers have to give up their lives because we can't get it together I don't think we have to be we shouldn't have to die in order to do our job so there has to be a workable workable isolation plan people were crying out for this minister to do her job it was her job to protect residents in long-term care and protect long-term care from COVID-19 she failed at that job will she do the right thing and resign today thank you speaker you know and and I it is devastating to listen to the stories and to understand what happened I think that is the very reason why I'm here in politics today is to address these long-standing issues and why nobody else was doing it before this I do not know my resignation would not replace a single war bed it would not create a single vaccine for someone it would not stop a single new variant from emerging but what I can do and what our government has been doing is repairing and rebuilding and advancing long-term care ever since we became government and we will continue to do that we are shoring up the staffing the long neglected staffing we are building capacity we are accelerating builds we are using new methods of construction we are understanding the needs of families and residents unlike any previous government before us we are committed to doing that thank you the stories that are outlined the horrifying devastating stories in the commission's report aren't new the same stories were being told to the government by the Canadian Armed Forces and as the commission said instead of spending the summer shoring up long-term care this minister chose not to do so this government didn't want to spend the money here's another family the bottom line is that dealing with my mom during the pandemic is that we saved our mother's life and she likely would have died from neglect she lost over 20 pounds in a matter of weeks and was nearing death by starvation because we were locked out and unable to help her while staff were off recovering from COVID-19 this minister's job was to protect that woman and everybody else in long-term care from COVID-19 she failed at that job will she do the right thing down she does not belong as the minister of long-term care she failed utterly speaker minister of long-term care thank you speaker in fact if you go back and read the testimony with the commission of long-term care you will see dr. McGeer talk about the magnitude of the second wave and the inadequacies that had been left for many many years in long-term care the second wave magnitude was so great it could not be overcome both communities spread in wave 2 was very significant and so we are here now as a government committed to long-term care to the rebuilding and the repair and advancing it and that is very clear from the historic advancements almost 10 billion dollars to shore up the staffing our commitment to four hours of direct care per residents the capacity issues the dollars that have been spent for the IPAC and working with all the different entities of the health care system Ontario health, public health Ontario, our medical officers of health multiple ministries making sure that every stone is turned to repair and rebuild long-term care that is our mission that is what we were doing before COVID that is what we were doing thank you very much thank you speaker good morning my question is for the minister of children community and social services I heard local publication Peterborough this week reported that on Sunday April 18th two OPP officers approached a group of 8 parents at a park with 11 of their children the officers demanding for parents their names and date of birth and then went on to threaten the parents to let them know that in these types of situations they are liaising with the children's age society he didn't explain what the situation was as the parents were not breaking any rules the Peterborough County OPP's community safety media officer defended the move the OPP may liais with children's age if social distancing or mask wearing is not done by parents does this government believe that it is a job of the OPP to spy on parents in parks with their children collect their information and go running to children's age if in their opinion the appropriate mask wearing or social distancing is not occurring to reply on behalf of the government the solicitor general you know clearly I am not going to be able to talk about individual instances that may or may not have occurred the proper investigation should be left to the OPP and or the jurisdiction in which the alleged incident occurred what I can tell you is that we all need to understand and appreciate that there is currently a stay at home order in place there are a number of facilities including a number of municipal provincial assets that have been closed to discourage people from gathering together so that we continue to stay safe and keep people physically distanced from each other and if we cannot then wear masks all of these pieces together ensure that we can as much as possible limit the transmission of the COVID-19 and the variants of concern and we will continue to do that to protect our friends and neighbors supplement your question it appears that the government has lost the plot I'd like to remind this government that it is parents not the OPP not the minister and not the premier but parents that are the primary educators and caregivers of their children in the same news report the ministry of children community and social services said it has not provided specific guidance to children's aid to report parents who are not complying at home orders but that's not good enough what I want to know is since the news report has this government instructed children's aid and the OPP to back off when it comes to how parents are parenting their children on things like mask wearing and social distancing government host thank you very much mr. Speaker I think the government has been very clear right from the onset that the best way to protect parents and children is to abide by the regulations that have been put forward by our medical officer of health in the province of Ontario I think we are both in agreement both myself the government and the member opposite that parents are of course the best place to keep their children safe and at the same time mr. Speaker it's the government's responsibility to help and provide assistance to ensure that parents know everything that they must know in order to help keep their children safe I think we all have the exact same goal mr. Speaker keeping our children safe keeping the province safe and we'll continue on that path next question member for Scarborough agent court mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of health mr. Speaker despite an inconsistent vaccine supply to date our government has continued to build a solid foundation in Ontario's vaccine rollout with a focus on age and risk allowing us to reach our most vulnerable populations and have a measurable impact can the minister of health update this house on the status of our vaccination program for the month of May thank you thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you again to the member for that question I'm pleased to report to this house last that last Thursday we were on track to achieve our goal of administering first doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 40% of Ontarians aged 18 or over which was achieved as of today over 5.3 million doses have been administered across the province importantly mr. Speaker over 91% of Ontarians aged 80 and over have received at least one first and second doses have been administered in 31 fly-in first nations communities in Musini and 95% of long-term care residents are now fully vaccinated providing a layer of protection to those who need it most mr. Speaker the best vaccine for anyone remains the first vaccine that you're offered and I hope that everyone in Ontario will take that up as soon as they've reached the required age thank you to the minister for the update mr. Speaker I am proud of what our government has been able to accomplish despite the unpredictable supply of vaccine to date now that we have more vaccines being delivered to this month can the minister tell us how we are going to expand our capacity to vaccinate even more Ontarians thank you mr. Pal thank you again to the member for the question approximately 800,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are expected to arrive in Ontario each week at the start of May ramping up to 940,000 doses per week by the end of May this reliable increase in vaccine supply allows our government to further accelerate our vaccine rollout and get more shots into arms because of this last Friday we have had a lot of people in the pharmacy locations in hotspot communities to administer the Pfizer vaccine to individuals aged 55 and over eight stores in Peele and eight in Toronto were participated in this pilot with each location receiving approximately 150 doses per week to help to continue to provide province-wide capacity to vaccinate as many individuals as quickly as possible but we will continue with the access to individuals across the province thank you the next question for Algoma Manitoulou last week we learned that the Premier's personal pollster and professional lobbyist Nick Cavallis has been quietly pocketing over $100,000 a year of taxpayer money to advise the Conservatives about this $120 million he's gotten in government contracts from the Premier in the last few years Speaker, my question is to the Deputy Premier we know it's just not Nick Corey Tanicki the chief lobbyist for big corporations like Amazon is also on the PC party payroll why does the government think that lobbyists and PC insiders deserve a bigger say around the cabinet table than the experts like the science table clearly we don't Mr. Speaker this is why Cabinet and this caucus have been meeting four months and this legislature as well has been meeting four months non-stop to bring forward an aggressive pandemic response I remind the member opposite voted with the government unanimously, in fact all members of this legislature voted with the government on a number of proposals at the onset of this pandemic Mr. Speaker, it's a job of the government to bring people together and address issues with respect to global health and economic pandemic the likes of which we have not seen in over 100 years Mr. Speaker and I'm very proud of the fact that we have done that whether it's on states of emergency which we've received unanimous consent for the support of this House and most recently the Minister of Labour who was able to bridge gaps between all parties in this legislature and bring forward a bill on sick pay which received the unanimous consent of every member of this legislature and speedy passage Mr. Speaker we're getting the job done for all and more often than not we're doing it together and I appreciate the support of all members Mr. Speaker again to the Deputy Premier while lobbyists and PC party insiders are steering the ship around the cabinet table Ontarians are asking what the Premier and his ministers are doing turns out they're all out fundraising Speaker first the Premier left his 24-hour super important cabinet meeting to expand police powers and shut down parks to fundraise his third fundraiser that month now the Minister of Labour has another $1,000 per plate fundraiser planned this week Speaker $100,000 per plate pays a lot of sick days just saying so my question again through you to the Deputy Premier why? when we're in the worst crisis our province has ever seen is this government's top priority filling the PC party bank accounts of course Mr. Speaker we've been working very very hard I'll tell you what I've been doing on the weekend of course I was able to speak to a small business in my community that has had a challenging time he opened up just as the pandemic was starting a brand new shoe repair business for Stovall and Baktash I want him to know that we are supporting him and helping him I spoke to two parents Lisa and Margaret who have told me about the challenges facing and understandably the challenges of children at home while they're trying to get their kids through school while still doing their jobs and I know those are stories that we've heard from a number of people the member for North Humble was telling us Opposition come to order he's writing the great work that they've been doing on vaccines we heard from the Minister of Health the incredible work that was done getting all of those first nations vaccinated in the province of Ontario that's a lot of work next question thank you Speaker my question is to the Premier six months ago the Premier started talking about vaccines as Ontario's exit strategy out of the pandemic he did so knowing that distribution would take at least six months to a year but almost immediately on cue shifted the blame onto the federal government but now we have a major pivot the Premier used the phrase vaccine resistant variants three separate times so what was the Premier told about vaccine resistant variants and what does that mean for us does it mean that the vaccine is not a viable exit strategy anymore and if this government believes that the lockdown is the only way to fight COVID do vaccine resistant variants mean that we're going to be in lockdown forever Minister of Health thank you Speaker and the progress that we've been making on vaccinations has taken us very far over five million Ontarians have now received the vaccine and we also know that even if you have your first dose you have much greater protection against COVID than if you do not and even if you do contract COVID after your first vaccination the evidence has shown that you're not likely to require hospitalization and it will in all likelihood save your life so we are going to continue we are receiving more vaccines now from the federal government it is true that during the month of February we were receiving fewer doses of the Pfizer vaccine because of some of the work that they were doing on one of their warehouses in Europe we've also had a slowdown on the Moderna vaccines but these vaccines are coming in in greater quantities now we're going to continue to vaccinate people when we're also learning more about the variants of concern we've also had a lot of requests that accept for the South African variant which is not helpful with respect to using AstraZeneca we are doing well with vaccines and they will provide people of Ontario with the protection that they need so can I say Speaker with respect I did not get an answer to my question the Premier used the phrase vaccine resistant variants three times on Friday the minister didn't use it once Speaker the goalpost keeps changing month to month shows that the government never had an exit strategy that's why Ontarians lost faith in this Premier it was two weeks to flatten the curve turn into slow spread slow the spread turn into stop the spread stop the spread turn into until we all get vaccinated we must all stay home and now it's come to this moment a repeated thread by the Premier of vaccine resistant variants Ontarians want to know where this is going because we demand our lives our livelihoods and our liberties back Minister of Health well in answer to the members question we have had a plan for protecting the health and well-being of Ontarians since this pandemic began we ultimately wish to receive the vaccines which we are receiving now we are supplying people with the vaccinations and I'm very pleased that so many people are coming forward voluntarily to receive the vaccines because that's not happening in every jurisdiction in Ontario it is and we're very grateful for that we are coming forward to receive the vaccines however we also know that we need to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 and that's what we're doing with the stay at home order that is to protect people again to keep people from catching either one of variants of concern or the original COVID if I may call it that that is also very important limiting transmission and getting people vaccinated and we're not going to stop until every single person in Ontario who wishes to receive the vaccine gets one the next question the member for Davenport thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker this question is for the minister of education internal emails published by the Toronto Star this morning show how a teacher's twitter post sent the government spinning into damage control the tweet shows a crowded 34 desk classroom with barely any room for students to move between desks let alone stay safely distanced just one of many such examples that have been shared by education workers at a time when this government was repeatedly refusing to cap class sizes is the minister finally ready to admit that holding back needed supports for schools led to the cycle of school closures the absolutely disgraceful mess that continues to this day thank you Mr. Speaker thank you very much Mr. Speaker what I can confirm to the member opposite is that Ontario has one of the lowest case rates for youth under 20 because our government followed the advice invested in the plan with the full stamp of approval by the chief medical officer of health in fact speaker there are is a 1.6 billion dollar plan that helped us hire 7000 Nets new staff 3400 more teachers 95% of air ventilation systems in the province of Ontario in publicly funded schools as reported by the boards have been improved Mr. Speaker we double the public health nurse allocation supporting our schools we launch one of Canada's only province wide asymptomatic testing programs and we purchase and implemented 33000 HEPA units to improve air ventilation all of this because we followed the advice because we invested and because our premier and our governor committed to keeping students safe in this province supplementary Mr. Speaker our schools are closed across this province we are in the third lockdown what does this minister not understand about this all throughout this pandemic the minister has been more interested in appearances than in actually keeping students and education workers safe their approach has failed 27% of schools had at least one case of COVID before the recent closure infections and related isolation requirements caused absolute havoc for families looking ahead school boards have been told to plan for layoffs that their reserves will not be replenished and they still don't have details about this year's funding breakdown can the minister tell us how cutting staff and inflating class sizes is going to make schools safer or help kids recover from this pandemic Mr. Speaker in the words of the chief medical officer of health last month our schools I wouldn't dismiss the public health in the time of a crisis I would actually have confidence in him at a time when we need our institutions to have that confidence take your seat member for York center come to order member for Davenport come to order minister of education conclude your answer it is most concerning to hear that level of distrust in our public health units but speaker what the chief medical officer of health Ontario said is I quote our schools have been safe we want to keep them safe that's why speaker we put in plan in place a plan at 1.6 billion our investment that hired more staff our commitment going forward is that we are going to have more staff supporting our schools continued improvements in your ventilation the continuation of supports that have been critical including PP and speaker we have under our government unlike under the former liberal government increased mental health supports by four hundred percent because we know the risks the challenges are real for our students and for staff we will be there for students as we look to September we've been planning for the past months for that being ready for wherever this pandemic takes us we will be ready to ensure schools are safe and they are open next question member for Don Valley what Mr. Speaker my question is also for the minister of education and actually follows on the last question Mr. Speaker as of today none of the school boards in Ontario have received the detailed information regarding the funding for next year although that information in the form of the grants for student needs was promised a month speaker this delay will already have caused turmoil in board planning how many teachers how many support staff how many admin and cleaning personnel these questions simply cannot be answered until boards receive the GSNs to compound the problem this year boards have not received the guidance that they've asked for on how to plan for the coming school year what are the public health expectations and what are the scenarios boards should be modeling these are questions that boards cannot answer speaker students teachers support staff in all 72 boards in Ontario have been under enormous stress this year what minister do to ensure that the delay of the GSNs does not have a negative impact on the ability of boards to plan for the next school year Mr. Education thank you speaker and thank you to members for the question indeed the grant for soon needs the priorities fund and Ontario's learning recovery plan will all be unveiled in very soon we'll be ready for whatever scenario wherever path this pandemic takes as we look forward while there's a promise of hope with as a sister general confirmed educators this week now being eligible childcare educators last week licensed childcare educators being eligible for the vaccine that gives us hope in a as we look to September but we have been planning listening to experts working closely with the chief medical officer to ensure every public health intervention that has helped keep the lowest case rates of youth under 20 in the country because we put in plan put in place a plan that has listened to the science because we've provided school boards with the funding they needed to combat this pandemic and so we're going to continue to do that I assure the member that's coming in shortly it's interesting that the minister talks about the funding that was put in place to combat COVID which was inadequate but that funding is being removed Mr. Speaker in this year's budget the government has said it's increasing funding to schools in the province in fact while the pandemic is still in full force in Ontario this government is cutting over a billion and a half dollars from education that funding paid for boards to support the facilities that the realities of COVID including some though not enough extra staffing now with no guidance on how they should plan for next year the late release of funding information and facing the removal of the support that boards are facing funding cuts on top of the direct funding cut boards are also facing the reality that the reserve funds that have been earmarked that had been earmarked for local school projects that they had to dip into to deal with COVID pressures are not going to be restored there was nothing in the budget to indicate that the government understands that the use of reserve funds was a short term flawed solution to an immediate problem but that long term problem still exists and the reserve funds to boards so they can fulfill their commitments to local school projects Minister of Health Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker the Chief Medical Officer of Health of this province has confirmed that schools have been safe in this province the challenge we face in Ontario is a spike in community transmission that has stayed high I could challenge within our ICU capacity and we're all responding and doing our part what we have done in our school system is to replace every public health measure possible quality P.P. the cohorting of staff screening active screening of children before they enter schools a asymptomatic testing program that uniquely positioned Ontario to respond both in high risk regions and in all school boards across the province we've hired 7,000 new staff and I could assure the member and all families in the province we will be there for school boards in September for our children for our staff and for schools we will have more teachers we will have improvements to our ventilation mental health in the areas of learning loss focus on math and on literacy the areas that we know have taken a big we've seen regression globally for students we're going to continue to invest because we know it matters to families in this province Thank you Speaker my question is for the Premier the urban indigenous community in Toronto has been devastated by COVID-19 according to preliminary data indigenous people in Toronto have been hospitalised at more than 3 times the rate of the general population and the rate of infection for indigenous people is 23% higher but despite that indigenous people across Ontario are not receiving equitable access to vaccines under current provincial guidelines indigenous people living off reserve are being asked to wait 4 times longer for their second dose than those who are on reserve Speaker this is not the time to be between and discriminating against indigenous people just because they don't live on reserve when we know that all indigenous people are equally at risk will the Premier commit today to end this racist and discriminatory policy and offer all indigenous people on reserve or off equitable access to their second doses of their vaccines Thank you Speaker well we are ensuring equitable access to a vaccine to all of the people of Ontario and I would start with the indigenous community in the operation that fly in communities with operation remote immunity it was led by Dr. Homer Tien and Orange with people from the community and making sure that all of those residents were vaccinated However I can also advise that Regional Chief Roseanne Archibald is also a member of the task force of the on immunity and I can advise you she has been in a position come toward of ensuring that indigenous people living off reserve and living in urban areas also receive their vaccinations in a timely manner in the same way as the people on reserve have so Chief Archibald is a large proponent of that within the task force Concluded a question period for this morning being no further business this House stands in recess until one point