 It is therefore time for question period, the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. According to the scathing Auditor General's report, the Ministry of Energy signed a contract with a retainer of $500,000 to receive help from a law firm to provide search services and to compile emails before providing them to us. At the same time they completed the special report, the Ministry had still not provided us with all the emails in terms of the Auditor General's Office. Those emails were requested on May 31, 2017. I can appreciate the frustration of our Auditor General. Mr. Speaker, did the Premier authorize or instruct the Minister of Energy to block or delay the release of those emails, or did the Minister obstruct the Auditor General on his own decision? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our government remains committed to being open and transparent and continues to cooperate with the Office of the Auditor General. For example, the independent electricity system operator has so far provided 1,200 records to the Auditor General. Ontario Power Generation has provided hundreds of records. The Ontario Financing Authority has provided 3,242 records. Treasury Board, thousands of records. And as yesterday, Mr. Speaker, I explained that as of October 13, the Ministry has provided 13,212 records to the Office of the Auditor General. In this process, Mr. Speaker, and throughout our everyday operations, we're adhering to all document retention standards. Additionally, Mr. Speaker, the Ministry is continuing to release additional information to the Auditor General. In fact, we're committed to providing all additional records to the Auditor by November 1, the Ministry has been regularly providing the Auditor General's office with additional responsive documents each week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back to the Premier. The question was, who ordered the obstruction? Was it the Premier's office, or was it the Minister of Energy's own decision? The Minister said that he released 13,000 emails to the Auditor General. However, he still went out and got some high-priced help for this apparent obstruction. In fact, the half a million-dollar consulting firm in his office originally identified some 2 million emails. That means he released less than 1%. That's actually 0.65% of the identified emails. Here he has bragged in the House, we've released 1% of our emails to the Auditor General. That's not good enough, Mr. Speaker. Less than 1%, that's not transparent. That's a government that's engaged in obstruction. So Mr. Speaker, my question is very straightforward to the Premier herself. Will the Premier release the other 99% of the emails and the disclosure to the Auditor General? The context of the words that are causing a little consternation has to stay very clear, and if it goes over the line of an accusation, I'm going to ask the member to stop using that. If he says he believes there's that happening, so be it. Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, we had 80 custodians identified capturing 40 phrases, Mr. Speaker, that provided over 2 million emails. None of those, not all of those emails, Mr. Speaker, applied to this actual document and to this request, Mr. Speaker. But really, when we're looking at what was being done with the fair hydro plan, Mr. Speaker, it was giving families what they had asked for, real and immediate relief on their electricity bills, and that's what we delivered, Mr. Speaker. We made a policy choice to ensure that we continue to have a clean, reliable, and affordable... It's difficult for me to ask one side to stop when members of the person giving the answer are heckling over top of the minister giving an answer, and it will stop. Finish, please. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I was saying, we made the policy choice to ensure that we continue to have a clean, reliable, and affordable electricity system for ratepayers of today and ratepayers tomorrow. Thank you. Member from Renfrew, come to order. You can even get worn with doing a gesture, sir. Final supplement. Mr. Speaker, for a third time, directly to the Premier, the half a million-dollar consultants have had since May 31st to get these emails to the Auditor General. That's 141 days and counting. I'm sure Peter Feist worked his email magic a lot quicker than that, and it only cost $10,000. You know, Mr. Speaker, I agree with the Auditor General. This is an offensive obstruction of the rights of the Auditor General and every single member of this legislature. Mr. Speaker, one more day is one too many. So my question, Mr. Speaker, directly to the Premier, I hope that she will answer this herself rather than passing the buck. Will she have those emails boxed up and sent over to the Auditor General before another one of her Liberal cronies has a chance to double-delete them? I want that. Minister? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In talking about days, we know it's almost 365 days that they said that they would release a plan on what they would do at the electricity sector, Mr. Speaker, and they have done nothing. Let's look at what we have done, Mr. Speaker. We've lowered electricity bills by 25% for all residential customers and as many as a half a million, small businesses and farms, and I know the party's opposite have yet to even present a credible plan. Families in this province asked for real and immediate relief, and that's what we've delivered, Mr. Speaker. The fair hydro plan is providing that 25% reduction to all residential ratepayers and guarantees that we're going to keep the costs will not rise beyond the rate of inflation for the next four years. Mr. Speaker, electricity rates had risen too much, too fast, and as a result of this investments that we've made in our electricity system which had become unreliable with brownouts and blackouts, the fair hydro plan makes sure with the investments that we've made that we've made a clean, reliable and affordable, Mr. Speaker. The chief government whip will come to order. The member from Northumberland, Quinty-West knows better. New question, the member from Prince Edward Heston. My question this morning is for the Premier Speaker. The Premier rode in on a white horse. She touted her open government. She loudly exclaimed that let's do things differently. And then there's speech from the throne quote, a plan to open up government order with increased transparency and more accountability. And ever since then they've ever ever since then they haven't done it yet. Finish, please. Speaker, she made all these promises and ever since then she's respected the independent officers of the legislature. She's thrown open the books for the independent officers to look at. She's followed the rules and she's respected the law. Kidding, she hasn't done any of that. She's actually made up her own rules. She's made up her own rules. She's actually removed oversight from the officers of the legislature. Mr. Speaker, what happened to this Premier saying she was going to do things differently? Premier. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know when my Honorable Friend rises and talks about all of the great things that our Premier continues to do, he was starting off on the right path, Mr. Speaker. But the only party that has seen as a party that's kidding with the people of Ontario is the party opposite, Mr. Speaker. That party will do one thing and then say another every single week, Mr. Speaker. They talk about bringing forward a plan of electricity and then say, oh, wait, no, that'll come next week. Oh, no, wait, that'll come next month. Now it's going to happen in some magical weekend in November, but we know, Mr. Speaker, they have no plan. They have no idea on what to do to help the people of Ontario. Just for example, Mr. Speaker, not even when it comes to electricity, let's talk about minimum wage. First, in the first reading, Mr. Speaker, they vote in favour of helping all low-income people in this province. Starting on the bill yesterday, Mr. Speaker. Where were they? Nowhere, Mr. Speaker. Supplementary. It's really a shame that the Premier won't actually answer these questions about her lack of openness and transparency that she promised. We're talking about a new, a brand new $4 billion scandal here on this so-called fair hydro plan. This is going to cost billions of dollars, taxpayers and electricity customers billions. It's starting to look like an episode of The Simpsons over there. Where are they going to find this $4 billion in a case of Duff Beer or Lisa's Saxophone or Grandpa Simpsons drawer? Who's running the show over there? Is it Homer Simpson or is it Ed Clark? We have the members of the Eastern Ontario Wardens caucus who are here. They're looking for much-needed infrastructure dollars. How far would this $4 billion go to answering the needs in our local communities? But it's not going there, Mr. Speaker. When will the Premier just stand up and she's made an enormous mistake on this scheme? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now I know, Mr. Speaker, that the Fair Hydro Plan is reducing everyone in this province their bills by 25%, Mr. Speaker. That's something that we should all be proud of because we recognize that we spent money in infrastructure rebuilding this system. $70 billion, Mr. Speaker. But when you want to talk about infrastructure builds, I know that the Minister of Infrastructure, or even the Minister of Transportation, can talk over and over again, Mr. Speaker, about all the infrastructure that we're building right across the province. But let me start talking a little bit about the infrastructure. $13.5 billion in the GTHA Go Regional Expressway. Well, it's going to quadruple the number of weekly trips to $6,000. $1 billion in the Ring of Fire, tripling the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund to $300 million. $1.4 billion in the Here Ontario LRT, $1 billion in Ottawa's LRT, $43 million in the Waterloo Regional Transit Hub, and I haven't even started on Northern Ontario. Final supplementary. Thanks, Mr. Speaker. It's amazing to the media that the Premier doesn't want to answer these questions because we're talking about a lack of openness and transparency that she promised that the gas plant scandal is costing us $4 billion. And they haven't released all of the documents. They haven't released the emails in all seriousness. The fact that they haven't released all of the emails, given what happened during the gas plant scandal, Speaker, is absurd. It's an egregious breach of trust by this government. They stonewalled an FOI saying no records exist, and now they play the waiting game, trying to stop the gas plant scandal. Speaker, I'll provide the boxes. All they have to do is take those emails, put them in the boxes. As a matter of fact, I still have the boxes from the gas plant scandal. I'll send those boxes over, and they can put the emails in those boxes. Just turn over the boxes and do the right thing. Can you see it, please? Thank you. Minister. Mr. Speaker. So let's be clear on one thing, what they have on that side are usually filled with something else, Mr. Speaker. And it's not something that we really want to smell. But the one thing I can talk about here, Mr. Speaker, is that we've made sure, we've made sure that we've put 80 custodians, 40 access words, Mr. Speaker, and we have come up with 2 million documents. Those 2 million documents were went through by our law firm, and they identified 1,000 emails. Those 145,000 emails, Mr. Speaker, are now being going through by the Ministry of Energy making sure that we can provide to the Auditor General as many emails as possible. And that has been 13,212 by October 13th. And you know what, Mr. Speaker, we're going to make sure that she has all of those documents by November 1st. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question to the Premier. This week, we learned that the Premier and her Liberal government are forcing Ontarians to pay an extra $4 billion to hide the devastating effect of their $40 billion hydro-borrowing scheme from the public. But that's not the only thing that they're hiding. The Auditor General's report says that based on the email correspondence her office looked at, the Liberals knew what the cost would be. They had other options. They were advised to take those other options and still they stuck Ontario families with a $4 billion bill anyway. Wow. Well, the Premier tell the people of Ontario did she personally green light this accounting trick knowing it would cost families $4 billion on the hydro bill. Wow. Thank you, Premier. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So very pleased once again to rise and answer your questions on this and of course talk about the Fair Hydro Plan as well. But let's first talk about the accounting. The government's financial statements are prepared in accordance with the public sector accounting standards and will continue to follow these standards for the transactions resulting from the Fair Hydro Plan in the 2017 and 18 years and of course Mr. Speaker in future years. In regards to the rate regulated ... ... We're moving to warnings. You've had your moment. Now it's ours. Finish? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So P.S.S. is silent on and does not prohibit the use of rate regulated accounting. So many entities in Canada including OPG, Toronto Hydro Fortis, Hydro One, use rate regulated accounting as well. in fact, six of eight other independent system operators use rate-regulating accounting, and I'll get to more in the supplementary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I'll speak quite kindly. I hope the Premier will get to the supplementary. The AG's report says that emails show senior government officials were warned of the cost of this plan and were told there were other options. Since the Premier refuses to release the emails that the AG examined in her investigation, can't you tell us who were the senior government officials that were warned? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again, I get to rise and speak about our fair hydro plan. You know, Mr. Speaker, families in the province asked for real and immediate relief on their electricity bills, and that's what we delivered. The fair hydro plan is providing an average of 25% to residential rate payers. That's a cut, Mr. Speaker, and guarantees that electricity rates will not rise beyond the rate of inflation for four years, and as many as a half a million small businesses and farms are also benefiting. But we all knew, Mr. Speaker, that electricity rates risen too much too fast as a result of the investments that we made, $70 billion. And so that meant that we were paying off those investments too quickly. So the fair hydro plan smooths out the costs of those investments, but over a longer period of time. And that means the system improvements are paid for by the people that use the system now and, of course, use the system later, Mr. Speaker. And that's fair, because this plan makes sure that we also keep all of these assets on the electricity side with the rate payer where they should be, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Final supplementary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier. The people of Ontario deserve to know who authorized this extra $4 billion on their hydro bills. Yesterday I moved a motion to require these emails to be released publicly. The Liberals used their majority to shut down debate on that motion. The Premier has already set aside $500,000 for a lawyer to organize these emails for the AG. It should be easy to release them now to the public. Will she? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We've provided 13,212 emails to the Auditor General. We'll make sure all of the emails that apply to this file will be provided to the Auditor General by November 1st. We're constantly working, Mr. Speaker, with the Auditor General's office and in constant contact with the office, Mr. Speaker. But let's take one step back and be very clear, Mr. Speaker. This decision with the fair hydro plan was a policy choice. A choice to ensure that we continue to have a clean, safe, reliable and affordable electricity system for the ratepayers of today and the ratepayers of tomorrow. And the fair hydro plan keeps the cost of borrowing within the rate base, Mr. Speaker, not the tax base because that's the logical and right thing to do. Electricity financing should remain within the electricity system. While the Auditor General is welcome to her opinion, Mr. Speaker, our plan has been approved by her peers at some of Canada's top accounting firms like KPMG, E&Y and Deloitte. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. New question to the member from Toronto, Dan Ford. Thank you, Speaker. Again to the Premier. Hope Springs Eternal. One government official said this about the Liberals' determination to make people pay an extra $4 billion on their hydro bills. Quote, hopefully they'll come to the conclusion that the plan can be financed by the province rather than externally, as that would be a lot simpler and cheaper. Why would the Premier ignore the advice of non-partisan public servants and push ahead with this financial cover-up? Withdraw. Withdraw. Premier. Minister of Energy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Happy to rise and once again talk about the importance of the policy choice that we made, Mr. Speaker. That policy choice was to ensure that we can have that clean, reliable and affordable system that we've talked about. And I know, Mr. Speaker, that we keep talking about the importance of making sure that we keep electricity costs within the electricity system. And the Fair Hydro Plan does that, Mr. Speaker. We have always ensured that when OPG builds a new hydroelectric dam, when Bruce Power, you know, refurbs its new plants, Mr. Speaker, when we see Guelph Hydro, for example, or any utility actually invest in their system, the cost of borrowing stays within the electricity system. And that's why, Mr. Speaker, we brought forward this policy choice was to keep the cost of the electricity system in that sector, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Just note, her predecessor – Supplementary. Thank you. Her predecessor decided he didn't have to answer to the legislature either, and that didn't end well. Yeah. Mr. Speaker. The AG's report says that senior government officials and staff cautioned against that expensive accounting trick. She said officials noted the design of their $40 billion borrowing scheme, quote, will result in higher costs for Ontarians, end quote. This was cut and dry. The Liberals were told if they proceeded with the trick, it would cost people more. And they did it anyway. Wow. Why is the Premier putting her desperate re-election hopes ahead of the needs of Ontario's families? Can you see it, please? Thank you. Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From my understanding, the Premier's previous predecessor, when he left, we ended up winning a majority government on this side of the house because we were the party that brought forward a plan that actually benefited all of the people of Ontario, Mr. Speaker. None of them on that side, Mr. Speaker, had a plan. Minister, please. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The opposition parties had no plan then. They have no plan now, Mr. Speaker. We brought forward a plan that brought immediate relief, a policy choice that we made, Mr. Speaker, a policy choice that we made to continue to ensure that we have a clean, reliable and affordable system of electricity in this province, Mr. Speaker, and something that we'll continue to do for the people of Ontario. Thank you. Final supplementary. Thank you, Speaker, and again to the Premier. The Premier's $40 billion hydro borrowing scheme was already going to drive up hydro bills in the long run. To hide the cost, she or someone in her cabinet authorized a $4 billion accounting trick and added it onto people's hydro bills. The AG says the Liberals were warned about this. They were given other options and they simply ignored the advice from civil servants and went ahead anyway. The Premier won't tell us who green-lit this massive betrayal of the public trust. She refuses to release emails that show who in her party knew what and when. How many more desperate abuses of power does this Premier plan before the next election? Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and that's unequivocally untrue, Mr. Speaker. We have always been open and transparent as a government. We'll continue to cooperate, Mr. Speaker, with the Office of the Auditor General. And of course, Mr. Speaker, let me reiterate something. Finish please, Mr. Like I started off with, Mr. Speaker, let's talk about what we have done so far. 13,212 emails that have been provided to the Auditor General. 1,200 emails and records from the ISO. Hundreds from the OPG, Mr. Speaker. 3,242 from the Ontario Financing Authority. Thousands of records from the Treasury Board, Mr. Speaker. In this process, Mr. Speaker, we have ensured that every day and throughout our operations, we're adhering to all document retention standards. Any questions? The member from DIPACEN. Thank you, and good morning, Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Finance. This morning, we learned from the Financial Accountability Office that the government's debt reduction claims are $6.5 billion off the mark. The FAO said that's equal to eliminating funding for 40% of Ontario's hospitals, to put it in perspective. They painted a bleak and stark long-term budget outlook for Ontario. Meanwhile, the government continues to insist they're on track, even though they have used the same data the Financial Accountability Officer used. The FAO clearly stated, quote, without an adjustment to Ontario's fiscal policy, we will see increasing budget deficits and higher levels of debt. The people of Ontario clearly cannot trust anything this government says. Speaker, will the Minister come clean about their debt claims and tell us what they plan to do to address these new concerns? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the question. I appreciate the work done by the FAO in regards to looking long-term in terms of the demographic and challenges that not only Ontario, he makes reference to the fact that all OACD countries everywhere around the world are going to be facing these challenges. We, too, came out with a long-term report last year recognizing these very issues. The FAO rightly states that we have to take measures and have to address these long-term challenges. And exactly what it is that we're doing in our budgets today, we are looking long-term in terms of the programs we put in place to support healthcare, to support education. In fact, universal healthcare that's been expanded to youth under 25 is part of that. The work that we're doing with pension reform is part of that, both of which, that side of the house, have actually declined not to do, Mr. Speaker. We need to support these very measures. We need to manage our fiscal house. That's why we're balancing the books this year, next year, and the year after that. Thank you. Back to the minister. The FAO confirmed again this morning that their so-called balance is all with the one-time asset sales and other one-time revenue, Speaker. But here's why, with the financial accountability officer said today matters to families. The FAO says not meeting the debt targets means there will be, quote, less fiscal room for spending on government priorities such as health and education. The FAO also said that Ontario is less able to respond to unforeseen events such as the next recession. Perhaps worst of all, the FAO says continuing on this course will unfairly shift the fiscal burden from baby boomers to younger Ontarians. Speaker, this week two independent officers of the legislature have disputed the Liberals' numbers. Of course they have. How can families ever trust anything this government says again? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, we came into office recognizing that the recession had hit us hard, recognizing that the Conservative Government federally doubled their debt, had the most, the highest deficit in Canada's history under their watch, and we at this side of the House also recognized those challenges. It is why we stimulated growth, invested heavily in infrastructure to build our economy and support the people of Ontario. Today we're outpacing Canada and the G7 countries. Today we have the lowest unemployment in 17 years. Today 730,000 net new jobs have come to the province. And Mr. Speaker, today we are continuing to invest long-term to address the very challenges that the FAO has rightly cited, one that we accept and we are taking every step to manage going forward. And we are balancing, Mr. Speaker. We're balancing the books this year. We're balancing the books next year. And here after that, and those members have voted against those measures. Just a little reminder, we're in warnings. New question to the member from Toronto. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you, Speaker. Again to the Premier. Today an application was filed with the Environmental Commissioner calling for an investigation into alleged violations of the Environmental Protection Act. The applicants alleged that on February 23rd of this year, a malfunction at a petroleum refinery in Chemical Valley resulted in massive flaring that continued for 10 days. During this incident, residents in Amgenon and South Sarnia were unable to get any response from the Ministry about what was going on and whether they were in any danger. Will the Premier investigate this serious incident? Minister of the Environment and Climate Change. Minister of the Environment and Climate Change. Well, thank you, Speaker. And thank you to the member opposite for raising what is a very troubling question. And that relates to the quality of air that the folks in Sarnia and First Nations breathe. But more importantly, what and how they're communicated with. I was down in Amgenon and Walpole Island just shortly, not too long ago. And one of the things that we heard consistently was the need to improve the reporting. So that, because air sampling is done, the Ministry, my Ministry, has 11 different stations there. The First Nations have 15 stations in Amgenon. Industry has a number of monitoring stations and the town is involved with that. The city of Sarnia is also involved with that. One of the things we heard, Mr. Speaker, was a need to better coordinate that information and I've instructed my officials to look into how we can do that. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. And again to the Premier. According to the application, quote, residents of Amgenon and South Sarnia experience foul odor, significant vibration of houses, rattling of windows and loud noise from the flare, unquote. It must have been terrifying. The application also alleges that this incident caused a fire at the facility and another petrochemical facility next door. Despite the fire, the facility did not follow protocol and make a CVECO code 9 call to notify local fire authorities. And despite receiving complaints about the incident, the Ministry did not conduct air monitoring during the incident. Residents don't know what toxins were emitted. So again, will the Premier order an investigation and get these families the answers they deserve? Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you for the follow-up. I can assure the member opposite that there are 11 ministry monitoring stations that are real time. They operate 24-7 and we can very quickly, officials can very quickly, experts can very quickly find out what's going on, Mr. Speaker. So the question is around this incident and I will make some inquiries in my ministry about this specific one so that we can follow up. Mr. Speaker, let me talk about what's happening in Ongenog and Sarnia in itself over the past few years. Let's talk about some of the positive things that are happening and I'm sure the member who represents Lantan Sarnia would be happy to agree. You know, Speaker, sulfur dioxide levels are down by 64%. Nitrogen dioxide down by 23%, particulate matter down by 43%. We're taking action. Thank you. Any questions? Thank you, Mr. President. My question concerns the Minister of Indigenous Relations, Reconciliation. This is a priority for the government. Generations can live in peace and harmony on lands that we share across this country. And Speaker, with your permission, I'd just like to commend Premier Nguyen parenthetically here to lead all members of the legislature for their affirmation of social justice and equity across Canada, given the latest example of Trumpism in the province of Quebec. Speaker, I was pleased to hear this week that the Minister spoke at the opening of the medicine garden on land donated by Manulife, right in the heart of Toronto at 200 Bloor Street East. This garden is especially significant as the first urban garden created through collaboration with the private sector, rather than by Indigenous organizations themselves. Speaker, my question is this. Can the Minister please tell us more about this garden and its significance for reconciliation in Canada? Thank you. Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. Thank you, Speaker. And I thank the member for Etobicoke North for that question. Speaker, in his speech at the release of the Truth and Reconciliation report, Mr. Justice Murray Sinclair now, Senator Sinclair said, and I quote, reconciliation is not just an aboriginal problem. It is a Canadian problem. It involves all of us. Speaker, our government knows this to be true, and that's why we are committed to working towards reconciliation and supporting Indigenous cultural revitalization together with our Indigenous partners, the private sector, and indeed all Ontarians. We know we as a government cannot do it alone, and that's why I want to thank Manual Life for working with us on this project. It is an example of corporate responsibility in the best sense of the word. By hosting this garden, Manual Life is demonstrating that we all have, all of us, institutions and individuals, a role to play in reconciliation. Government, the public, and the corporate world. Thank you. Thank you, Minister, and thank you, Speaker. It is, of course, essential that we all work together towards reconciliation, and through, Speaker, our government's landmark action plan, the Journey Together, our government is committing more than $250 million towards reconciliation over the next three years. But, Speaker, it's a shame that the opposition parties voted against the 2017 budget, which contained this historic commitment. Speaker, as Oscar Wilde said, no man can escape his past, and I would remind the leader of the opposition that while he was a federal MP in Harper government, he voted against implementing the Kelowna Accord, which would have invested billions in First Nations health and education against a budget that cut, he voted for a budget that cut $272 million promise to Indigenous language protection, and he voted to impose mandatory minimums that disproportionately affect Indigenous peoples. Speaker, would the minister tell us more about our government's approach to reconciliation? Good question. Speaker, instead of voting against landmark investments in First Nations health and education, we are making those investments. We are committed to closing gaps, to removing barriers. We've committed $150 million to the journey together alone to improve Indigenous health and education. Instead of cutting funding to Indigenous language projects, we are investing $30 million over the next three years to support the revitalization of Indigenous culture and languages. Instead of voting for mandatory minimum sentences, some of which the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled as cruel and unusual punishment, we have committed $45 million to projects that will make our justice system truly culturally irrelevant and appropriate. That includes restorative justice programs and Indigenous specific victim services. Mr Speaker, through meaningful actions such as these, our government will continue to build trust in a respectful and mutually beneficial relationships with our Indigenous partners. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. While cancer research continues to develop new and innovative treatments, the cost of these treatments continues to rise. The result is that effective breast cancer treatments remain stalled in a price negotiation with pharmaceutical companies. The existing drug approval process simply locks transparency, accountability, and deadlines. As a result, it's taking too much time for metastatic breast cancer patients to access new treatments. Ontario is one of Canada's lead negotiators at the Pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance and the Chair of the Canadian Association of Provincial Cancer Agencies. So my question to the Premier is, will the Ontario government take the lead and call for transparency, accountability, and deadlines in this drug negotiation process? Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, and I thank the member for the question and to all of the advocates who are here today, thank you so much for what you do. It's very important that we have that interaction between people who are in the community on the front line and government. Mr Speaker, we are taking a leadership role. The Minister of Health today actually is at a federal provincial table, Mr Speaker, meeting with his counterpart ministers across the country and with the federal Minister of Health in long-term care. And, Mr Speaker, we will continue to work to make sure that we make progress on this Pan-Canadian enterprise because that is the leverage that we have, Mr Speaker, to work with all of our provinces and work with the federal government to make sure that we get the best outcomes for people who are struggling with this disease, Mr Speaker. Thank you. Mr Speaker, our province does need to take the lead and address the issues with the interprovincial government body. In similar jurisdictions, as the Minister of Health knows, these bodies are more transparent and have timely benchmarks in the negotiation process. So if the price of a drug is too high or it doesn't meet certain conditions, players at the table know what needs to change and they can get back to negotiating. Unfortunately, Ontario cancer patients, like the ladies with us in the gallery today, are often left waiting in the dark for a year or even more. So many patients don't even live long enough to be able to get the treatments they need and deserve. That's simply not acceptable, Mr Speaker. Again to the Premier, will the government take the lead quickly and help fix this process so that patients can get access to life-saving treatments before it's too late? Mr Speaker, and again, I will say to the member opposite and to the advocates who have joined us today, Mr Speaker, that the whole point of us being involved in the pan-Canadian discussion of those negotiations is exactly what the member opposite is talking about. To make sure that those life-saving drugs are available to patients in a timely way, that they have the information that they need, Mr Speaker, and that they are affordable, Mr Speaker, because that is the question of sustainability is extremely important, Mr Speaker, and in fact, the Canadian Association for Provincial Cancer Agencies represents our provincial agencies and have been asked by the Minister to tackle the tough issues of sustainability. So the whole point, as I say, Mr Speaker, of us being involved is to make sure that those medications are available, to make sure that we continue to have among the best outcomes in the world on cancer recovery, Mr Speaker, and treatment. We will continue to play a leadership role and again, I appreciate all of the support and the work that happens here and outside of government, Mr Speaker. The question, the member from Niagara Falls. My question is to the Premier. On July 2nd, I sent this government a letter asking them to investigate the concerns of the dumping of broad sewage into the Niagara River. It took this government almost one full month and another letter to even reply. When the Minister of Environment finally replied, he simply told me this was an American issue. Since that time, broad sewage has been dumped into the Niagara River a number of times again. Mr Speaker, there is no stop sign or fence in the middle of the Niagara River. It connects the US to Ontario. It is a shared natural resource. Residents want to know if damage was done to our river and how to stop these deliberate delivered spills from occurring. When can the residents expect the Premier to take this issue seriously and stand up for our environment and investigate these spills? Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. And I appreciate the question. I know the Minister of Environment and Climate Change is going to want to speak to it also in the supplementary session, but I want to just let the member opposite know that in fact this weekend I will be leaving tomorrow for Windsor, Mr Speaker. I am co-chairing with Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan the Great Lakes Governors and Premier's meeting, Mr Speaker. And we will be talking about a variety of issues concerning the Great Lakes, Mr Speaker, and the Great Lakes watershed. It is of primary importance to me, on things like invasive species, Mr Speaker, on pollution issues, on the algal blooms in Lake Erie, those are all issues where there has been some progress, Mr Speaker, but there is much more that we have to do and we at this moment, I would say more than at other points in our history, it's important that we make it clear to the United States to our partners in the United States that we are working with them and we will continue to partner as we fight the environmental causes that are supplementary. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can you stand up for America? Seated, please. Supplementary. Thank you, Mr Speaker, and again to the Premier. The Governor of New York acted on this issue right away. The DEC found that the sewage contaminated the water in the Naga River. In fact, more than five of these sewage spills have occurred since I first wrote to the Liberal Government. Yesterday, the New York Water Board said they were sorry about the spills. But without necessary infrastructure improvements, after every heavy rain, this could continue for five years. We want to know what this is doing to the quality of our water in Ontario and how it will affect our environment. When can the residents expect the Premier to show the same level of concern as the people of Naga, then will she send someone to Naga to test the water? Thank you. Minister of the Environment and Climate Change. Minister of the Environment and Climate Change. Well, thank you, Speaker. Thank you for a very interesting question because the water is being tested. I will say that to begin with. But what I will say is that the last time I checked, you know, this Naga Falls, New York is in New York, which is the United States, yet anyway, a part of Ontario. So what we have been doing from day one, Speaker, is working closely with our counterparts in New York State. Finish, please. So I will say, Speaker, that we've been in touch with our federal counterparts, Environment and Climate Change Canada. They have assured us they're on top of this as well. They've conducted monitoring and not noted any impact to the environment. We'll stay on top of it. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education. Ontario has a rich history of strong civil representation at the local level. I know that we all appreciate the service of our locally elected representatives within the 444 municipalities across Ontario, including mayors, municipal councillors, Reeves and school board trustees. As an educator, I know that our curriculum is teaching our students about local government in schools and the important roles that school board trustees have to play in their education. Mr. Speaker, through you to the Minister, can you please tell us what students are doing to celebrate local government week and how they are being supported at the local level? Thank you, Minister of Education. Thank you, Speaker. I'm very proud to rise in this legislature. I want to thank the member from Barry for this very timely question. Because, yes, this is local government week and as we speak, students in grades 5 and 10 are having a number of opportunities to learn about the importance of local governance and its role in our communities. Our students are doing great work on this area and they're doing great things this week from touring town halls to holding mock elections at school and really just discussing the value of local governments. I'd like to recognize the very important and critical role our locally elected school board trustees, both past and present, like our Premier in fact, have played in local democracies. It is the oldest form of elected representation in Ontario starting since 1807. So I want to thank our local government for their great work they do on behalf of us. Supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. I'd also like to say it's great to see a class here learning about the legislature and local government. My question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs. It's local government week in Ontario and young people in grades 5 to 10 are learning about how local governments support our communities. These are the people who work very every day to make our communities a better place. As an educator I can tell you that local government week is a springboard for students and can help plant the seeds for future public service. These students are our future mayors, librarians, trustees and the way we work with our municipal partners provides both an example to them and the future success. Please speak about the importance of our relationship with local governments here at Queens Park. Minister of municipal affairs and housing. I'd like to thank the member for the question. Given that it's local government week we'd like to recognize the efforts of thousands of people in the cities and towns we call home. Each and every day 444 municipalities across Ontario our municipal leaders work hard to bring respect back to the community. My career and politics started at the municipal level and representing my community was a great honour but at the time there was a clear lack of respect for municipalities by the provincial government of the day. Nothing highlighted that more than the big download and forced amalgamations. Since coming to government in 2003 we've worked hard to bring respect back to the partnership with the local government. We're making the largest infrastructure investment in Ontario's history. More than 190 billion over 13 years starting in 1415 and through bill 139 we're proposing to overhaul the OMB speaker. I encourage all of you to speak in support for local government to speak. Thank you Mr Speaker. My question is to the minister of community and social services. Oasis the Ontario association is one of the most important organizations in Ontario. They do fantastic work supporting and advocating for people with developmental disabilities. It hasn't been easy. The developmental service sector is in crisis. Oasis tells me there are more than 20,000 families stuck on waiting lists. That's outrageous. It's totally unacceptable. Community agencies want to help but this government keeps passing the buck. People with developmental disabilities deserve better. Why have they been so low for so long on this government's priority list? Thank you very much Mr Speaker. I also would like to welcome the individuals here from Oasis to the legislature this morning and I'm sure we're going to have some further dialogue but certainly I take great issue with the premise of the member opposite's question. This government is totally dedicated to the care of those with developmental disabilities. Since taking office we have more than doubled the funding for this particular sector. It's now at $2.3 billion. When I first became minister in 2014 our government committed to $810 million over three years. This has enhanced the services both on the day program side and on the residential side for vulnerable individuals. We recognize that there's more to do and in fact in this year's budget a budget that the organization voted against we committed a further $677 million over four years. Thank you. Thank you Speaker. The Oasis and the people they serve deserve better than stale talking points. They need action. Oasis tells me that in Perth Wellington alone there are some 710 requests for community agency services. Just this week I brought the minister's attention to Emily and Gregory Jones. They are both autistic and nonverbal. For two years Emily has been stuck on the passport waiting list. Greg for one year. For two and a half years. With no end in sight. And for others like Mackenzie Hintz who do receive funding it's not enough to meet their needs. I've met with these families. The system is badly broken and I think the minister understands that. And so I ask on behalf of the Jones, Forte and Hintz families and many others when will the government finally fix it? Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. We are certainly aware that there's always more to do. We have I believe a very rigorous system of prioritizing individuals for the funding that is available. And we understand that there can be challenging circumstances and circumstances that can change within families. We're aware of aging parents sometimes unable to care for those individuals with challenging behaviors with complex medical needs. And this is why we urge all service organizations prioritize individuals allocate funding as is appropriate. And we urge all families to continue that dialogue with the developmental services organization, with their case worker should circumstances change so we can address their needs as is appropriate. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Earlier this year the win government presented compensation claims of hundreds of workers who over the course of five decades worked at General Electric in Peterborough building everything from our household appliances to diesel engines. Well they were doing so they were exposed to over 3,000 types of toxic fumes and chemicals now known to cause cancer. The win government promised these families and I quote the minister a smile on their faces and a jingle in their pocket. And yet months later they are rambling for answers that the minister refuses to provide. When will this government stop breaking promises provide hundreds of grieving families of these workers give them the support and the compensation benefits that they need? Mr. Labour. Mr. Labour. Thank you to the member for the question. This has been a very very tough situation for the workers at the GE plant in Peterborough Speaker and it's gone on for far longer. It goes back to the 50s and the 60s Speaker when these people were exposed to chemicals we know a lot more about today. But over the years through multiple governments their employer, their health clinics, organized labour, the MOL I'm sure at some point the WSIB Speaker should have stepped up and helped these people simply put Speaker they did not. What we are doing in a very short period of time Speaker is attempting to rectify this. They deserve justice Speaker. They haven't had the justice they deserve. We are putting in place Speaker we've just announced from the WSIB a dedicated review team that's going to do nothing but look at claims that come out of the GE plant in Peter. I'm determined to get these people the justice they deserve Speaker and I promise that that will happen. Thank you. While rejecting hundreds of claims on WSIB the most WSIB continues to give premium cuts to businesses almost 10% cut in premiums over the last two years. These are the widows who lost their husbands to cancer workers who spent decades under exposed asbestos pipes in an entire community who continues to relive the horrors every single day because of broken promises still their claims are denied and despite the reports and the medical evidence the burden of proof on claimants continues to rise. When will this government stop breaking its promises to the hundreds of cancer victims from GE fix our systemically flawed WSIB compensation system and make sure that the families of in Peterborough and the workers in Peterborough have the compensation benefits that they need. Thank you. Minister. Mr. Speaker the member is right these workers and their families deserve better and that is exactly what we are working to and we don't need any last minute press releases or last minute press conferences telling us something we already know Speaker that we need to put a system in place as I said we put a dedicated review team at the WSIB that's all they do they look at claims from GE in an expedited manner to make sure that these folks get the justice they should have got a long time ago. It's an important step forward I've met with the families on a regular basis I understand their argument Speaker and I'm trying to do something about their argument it's a lot of blame to go around on this one Speaker my intent in the short term is to get coverage get the coverage they should be and Speaker after that we've got occupational diseases that we're looking at a response team to that as well Speaker to make sure we learn from what happened at GE make sure it never happens in the province of Ontario again. Thank you. Your question the member from Beach is East York and the member from Kitchener Waterloo will come to order. Well thank you Speaker as you know Amazon recently announced that it has plans to open a second headquarters somewhere in North America and Amazon is taking bids from interested cities there's been a lot of buzz all across North America with jurisdictions from all over saying they want Amazon to locate in their cities and bring the five fifty thousand jobs the project will create and today Speaker those bids are due in Ontario municipalities from Windsor to Sault Ste. Marie have their bids locked and the Ontario government Speaker I understand is supporting these municipalities by promoting the province's core values and our clean energy system while also building up its innovation ecosystem by strengthening the talent pipeline so minister Speaker through you to the minister can you please tell us why Amazon should come here to Ontario. Minister of economic development well the member is right Mr Speaker we're not offering new incentives to Amazon will have access to the existing business supports that are available to all qualified companies whether they're from Ontario or outside we're not going to enter the race to buy Amazon Mr Speaker instead we're appealing to the number one need of tech companies here today in Ontario and around the world and that's the supply of world class talent Ontario has the most sought after talent in North America our plan is to grow that growing this talent pipeline will require significant effort on behalf of all stakeholders in the province of Ontario this ambitious new initiative will not only serve potential multinational companies Mr Speaker it will also help our scaling companies that are working so hard to go global we're very excited about this opportunity we're very excited about what this will do for the future of our economy in Ontario. Well thank you Speaker we should all be thanking Speaker all be thanking the Minister for the incredible work that he is doing building Ontario up by attracting jobs and investments to Ontario now Speaker we can all be confident that any bid for Amazon's headquarters too from an Ontario city will be exceptionally difficult to be we know that Ontario is already a leading destination for international businesses because of its talented workforce its strong public education systems and its commitment to high quality clean energy systems our Minister we also know that we can't be content with these accomplishments we know that we must be continuously working to expand our supply of well trained and highly educated workers if we are to empower Ontario based businesses to grow into global players while also continuing to attract successful and innovative businesses here so Speaker through you to the Minister can you share with us what our government is doing to ensure that Ontario will be able to meet the demands that 21st century businesses such as Amazon will need to thrive to the Minister of advanced education and skills development well thank you Speaker our competitiveness did not develop overnight we've been working very hard since we were elected in 2003 to nurture and develop our highly skilled workforce one of the biggest steps we've taken Speaker is the transformation of OSAP the biggest transformation of student assistance in North America since 2003 the number of students attending our colleges and universities has increased by almost 40% and this year Speaker more than one third of them will get free tuition and another third will get grants to reduce their tuition cost but we cannot rest on our success and that's why we're doing even more we announced yesterday that whether or not we're successful with Amazon we'll be increasing the number of students graduating from STEM fields by 25% over the next five years that's 10,000 more graduates in science thank you I beg to inform the House that pursuant to standing order 98c a change has been made in the order of precedence on the ballot list for private members public visitors such that Ms. Scott assumes ballot item number 11 and Mr. Arnauth assumes ballot item number 8 with us today I have some introductions to do I'll come back to you in a moment in the speakers gallery today we are honored that we have a parliamentary delegation from the National Assembly of Croatia led by the assembly president or speaker the Honorable Gordon Jadrogvokic and his delegation is accompanied by the ambassador of Croatia her excellency Marika Matkovic and council general Mrs. Andrea Jovar welcome to Ontario member from Simcoe, Ukraine welcome Natalie Phil from Meeford she is the daughter of my superb assistant Chris Phil welcome Natalie when is it to come see thank you speaker two guests that I was remiss introducing earlier the mayor of Woodstock is here Trevor Birch also when we introduced the wardens from eastern Ontario we missed Lanark County warden Bill Dobson welcome to Queen's Park thank you very much thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I wanted to just do a shout out to Brian Don Levy who is a reporter who particularly Mr. Speaker when I carried the portfolio of Minister of Agriculture he barked some very tough questions at me but he was always fair Brian is struggling with serious health concern and I just want to wish him all the very best member for Oxford I want to introduce two special guests from Oxford and as the premier has already introduced Brian he's also accompanied by his able assistant Trevor Birch who is the mayor of the city of Woodstock welcome to Queen's Park thank you Minister of Senior Affairs thank you speaker I just want to take the opportunity to wish everybody well it's the valley today thank you members from Halburton, Quartholasebrock I want to introduce in the gallery Brittany Davis my former OLIP intern who is now studying law welcome back again Brittany thank you why thank you speaker for recognizing me I'd like to welcome Doug Derabi who is with the Ontario Association of Optometrists to Queen's Park today one last announcement Pursuit to standing order 38A the member from Welland has given notice of her dissatisfaction of the answer to the question given by the Minister of Labor concerning WSIB claims this matter will be debated Tuesday at 6 p.m. there are no deferred votes so this house stands recessed until 1 p.m. this afternoon