 It's now time for oral questions. I recognize the Leader of the Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, my question is for the Acting Premier. Scrapping the updated sexual health curriculum puts students at risk. And I think, I hope, most members of the Cabinet would agree. We have heard for two days where Ford Nation stands on the issue. So with the First Ministers meeting in New Brunswick and the Deputy Premier answering questions today, I want to ask the Deputy Premier where her and the other women in Cabinet stand. Is it with the young people that need the information about consent, bullying, gender and sexuality? Or is it with the radical extremist social conservatives that the Premier seems to be beholden to? The Deputy Premier. Thank you to the Leader of the Official Opposition for her question. What we stand for is a curriculum that is going to be full and thorough and represents the wishes of the parents, listening to parents, listening to students, representing what they need. We want to make sure that parents are consulted. We were very clear about that during the election campaign. We heard from many parents, as you probably did as well, about their concerns about the age appropriateness of some of the things that they were learning. We want to make sure that we have a full, complete and appropriate sex education curriculum for all the students in this province. Supplementary. Look, we all get it. The Premier cut a deal with radical extremists like Tanya, Graddick, Allen and Charles McVeedy and he chose to do what social conservatives told him to do instead of standing up for students. Government side will come to order. I have to be able to hear the Leader of the Opposition. Leader of the Opposition, I apologize for the interruption. He chose to do what social conservatives told him to do instead of standing up for students. And I'm pretty sure that there are members of that Cabinet who are having a tough time looking in the mirror these days because they know that the outdated 1998 curriculum puts students at risk. So, with the Deputy Premier answering questions today, let's just get real. Is she seriously comfortable with taking consent, gender identity and LGBTQ families out of our classrooms in September? Thank you, Premier. What I'm going to work with right now is the 2014 sex education curriculum. We are going to be dealing with all of the issues that the Leader of the Official Opposition has mentioned, but what we are going to do and who the Premier has listened to and all of the members of our caucus have listened to is parents. And during the last talk to a survey by only 1,638 responses were received, which is 0.001% of the elementary school population's parents. So, we are going to listen to the parents and we are going to develop a curriculum based on what we hear from them. That will be modern and affecting and dealing with all of the issues that the Leader of the Official Opposition is speaking about. She may not like to hear that, but that is what we're going to do. Final supplementary. Ranging Ontario backwards by putting the 1998 curriculum back in our schools will only put Ontario's children at risk and I am floored by the response of the Deputy Premier. It denies kids the information that they need to stay safe from cyberbullying and to make sure that every queer young person is safe. In the past, the Deputy Premier, the Attorney General and the Minister of Children have all said that they support keeping kids safe. And now they actually have a chance to prove it. What will it take for the Deputy Premier to defend what she says she believes in and tell the Premier he's wrong to drag students back to 1998? Not 2014, 1998. Deputy Premier. The information of the Leader of the Official Opposition we are using the curriculum from 2014. Consultations are already underway for the process that we will use going forward, starting in the fall, listening to parents, listening to all of the issues that they want to talk about, making sure that we get it right this time. We heard very clearly from parents. We did not have, by the previous government, by the previous Liberal government, we are going to take the time and we are going to get it right. Next question. Leader of the Opposition. Deputy Premier or the Acting Premier. I have to say it's worrisome though because while they take their time to get it right, kids will be bullied. They'll be cyberbullied. Kids will be at risk. And LGBTQ youth will not get the supports and respect and dignity that they deserve like every other child deserves. My question is on a different topic and it's about the fact that Ontario employs hundreds of nonpartisan auditors and we have an entire office of the Auditor General that reports to MPPs. But instead of asking the Auditor General to look at government spending and accounting practices, the Premier is giving the job to his own hand-picked insiders. Why is this government sidestepping the Auditor General and putting another politician on the payroll? First of all, let me assure the leader of the Official Opposition that we do support the work of the Auditor General. We do listen to what she's tried to denigrate her and make her appear incompetent. We think she is thoroughly competent. She knows what she's doing, but she does not have the responsibility to do the line-by-line analysis that we promised the people of Ontario that we would cause to have happened and the Commission of Inquiry that we have brought forward is home by very, very accomplished people. We were able to get them to come and do this work for a very reasonable cost. We have no concern about the work that they're going to do. They are recognized professionals that anyone in Ontario would agree are well provided to do this analysis. $50,000 for a month of work is a pretty darn sweet deal that most Ontarians will never, ever be able to get, speaker. That's exactly what Gordon Campbell is going to get, however. But his only qualification for the job is that he ran as a liberal and then cut like a conservative. As Premier of BC, he cut social services. He fired public workers. He sold off and privatized assets like ferries and BC rails entire operation. In fact, that privatization led to railgate after police uncovered a backroom deal that cost British Columbians hundreds of millions of dollars. Why is this government ignoring the Auditor General and hiring a politician famous for cutting and privatizing public services? Thank you, Premier. Well, once again, we support the work that is being done by the Auditor General. We believe that she's doing a fantastic job, but she needs some help because of the mess that was left behind by the previous Liberal government. We cannot rely on the numbers that they have given us. We need to know where the bottom is. We're not there yet, sadly. We need to know where the bottom is so that we can start building and going forward. The three people who are going to be leading the inquiry are very accomplished individuals. Former British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell is very accomplished in dealing with issues like this. Dr. Al Rosen is recognized as a qualified expert as they have volunteered. They've come forward to do this work. It isn't a very short time frame because we need to get moving and fixing the books of this province. We are very proud. Inquiry and this audit are not about looking at the books. They're not serious accounting exercises. This is all about finding excuses for the Premier to cut and privatize in health care, in education and across our public services. Why else would the Conservatives trust the disgraced former Premier of British Columbia more than they trust Ontario's own Auditor General? We shouldn't be disparaging the people who are doing this work. They are experts from Ontario's Auditor General from this morning. The Office of the Auditor General appreciates the government's intent as part of the Financial Commission of Inquiry to address the accounting practices we have previously expressed concerns about. Our office will work cooperatively with the Commission. I wish to inform the House we're about ten minutes into question period and there have been repeated standing ovations and I would remind those members who are engaging in that that there are people on the list who would like to ask a question today and they're not going to get their chance to read this persists. Member for London West. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Education. This week, Ontarians have seen chaos and confusion coming from this government about sex education. First, they announced the repeal of the modernized curriculum dragging Ontario backwards to 1998 and putting the health and safety of young people at risk. They pretend that there is a curriculum when there is only 1998 or 2015. They claim there will be ample space to address critical social issues and that teachers will have flexibility to raise these topics. Speaker, school boards, teachers and parents need to know exactly what students will be learning in September. It shouldn't rely on individual teachers. Can the Minister explain how gender identity, LGBTQ families, consent and cyberbullying will be taught in our schools when the 1998 curriculum is silent on these issues? Thank you. Minister of Education. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker and we need to be very clear here. Teachers will be going back to curriculum they're familiar with because they're going to be using the curriculum that was utilized in 2014 and at that time in tandem we're going to be embarking on the most comprehensive consultation this province has ever seen because we're keeping our election promise to respect parents. We have heard from tens of thousands of parents that are uncomfortable but you know what really matters, Speaker? It's that we embark on a comprehensive consultation process whereby every person in this province has an opportunity to hear their voice heard because we know the previous liberal government got it wrong and through our consultation process we're going to get it right. Thank you, Speaker. Again to the minister it may be news to this government but this province has already had one of the most comprehensive education consultations in our history. It took place over a period of almost 10 years and resulted in the modernized 2015 health and physical education curriculum. The minister of education knows that three years ago she publicly stated the minister of education has done a lot of consulting about this we need an upgrade to the curriculum. Speaker, why is this minister catering to a small group of radical social conservatives like Charles McVidi who wants to hold town halls in every riding in Ontario instead of doing her job keeping the modernized updated curriculum in place? Minister of Education Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My job is to listen to the constituents that are represented in the ridings in every corner of this province and we have heard from tens and thousands of parents that their voices weren't heard and they are not being represented in what they're saying is okay to move forward with. So we're going to keep our election promise, Speaker. We are going to move forward with the most comprehensive consultation process this ministry of education has ever facilitated and in the spirit of democracy enable every person who wants to share their perspective to have an opportunity to have their voice heard and I look forward to kicking that off later this fall. Thank you very much. Next question. Member for Springwater Oro Madonte Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the minister of the environment over the past several months I've had the chance to talk to thousands of families and individuals across Springwater Oro Madonte and I heard from families that work hard they play by their rules and they're trying to get by and at the end of the day they still struggle to make ends meet. The tax to spend policies in the last 15 years has made life unaffordable as cap and trade, the carbon tax it only compounded the problem, it made it worse. It increased the cost of gas it increased the cost of groceries it increased the cost of everything that we do day to day and I campaigned to my constituents to end the cap and trade. I would like to ask the minister if he would update us on and the House and the public on the status of this commitment. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank the honourable member from Berry Springwater Oro Madonte I know that he stands up for his constituents and represents them well our government was elected on a promise to revoke the cap and trade program which for too long had targeted families low-income families targeted businesses and made life unaffordable for people in Ontario. That's why we announced the end of the cap and trade program of taking steps for its orderly wind down. Effective July 3rd, the province has revoked the cap and trade regulation and is prohibiting the trading of admission of its allowances. All programs currently funded through the cap and trade program will be concluded and the immediate orderly wind down of the Green Ontario fund is included in that. Mr. Speaker, under the leadership of Premier Ford we have delivered more promises in the first 10 days than the previous Liberal government did in the last 10 years. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Back to the minister Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for his commitment and his comments to this very important promise and both to me and to the constituents. I heard it time and again, time and again at the doors families simply cannot afford this tax. And to make things worse Mr. Speaker to make things worse during the campaign the Leader of the Opposition not only endorsed the Liberal plan but committed to adjusting the Liberal plan and obviously I don't mean down. This would have meant higher taxes for every family in Ontario higher costs of living, higher childcare higher food, higher gas everything. Can the minister assure the hardworking families in my writing that the days of this unaffordable cap and trade carbon tax are finally over? Mr. Speaker, through you to the member for too long the Liberals ineffective cap and trade program did target low income families, middle income families and the members quite right. I listened intently to the Leader of the Opposition's response to the speech from the throne and when she doubled down on advocating that continued cap and trade program I was bewildered. And when she talks about radical extremists well we could talk about the NDP MPP from Ottawa Centre who repeatedly called on increasing carbon taxes to 35 cents a leader. This is not what the people want this is not what we were elected to do on this side of the house we understand that in this time of economic uncertainty we need to avoid a carbon tax and we will not allow it. Thank you. Member for Toronto Danforth. Thank you Speaker. Speaker my question of the acting Premier. Last May the Liberal government announced a scheme to use borrowed cash to artificially and temporarily lower hydro bills before the election. After the election rate payers would need to pay back $40 billion in debt and interest. The government house leader who was then the conservative energy critic obtained a leaked cabinet document that showed how this hydro borrowing scheme would drive up hydro bills by 70% over the next 10 years. 70%. He described the Liberal scheme as quote deceitful, dishonest and shady end quote. So why is the Premier keeping this deceitful dishonest and shady Liberal scheme that will have $40 billion? I'm asking the member to withdraw because I'm going to have to come. I withdraw. Response? Deputy Premier. I go to the Minister of Energy. Thank you Mr. Speaker let's talk about another set of numbers that are factual, true and about to reduce the rate payers costs for energy across this province. We set out a campaign promise to reduce those by 12% and involved a number of important steps which have occurred over the past couple of weeks. That target is 12%. It's achieved by renewing leadership at Hydro One. It's achieved by cancelling contracts that are going to ultimately cost taxpayers way more money than it was worth. $790 million in savings is the number that we're dealing with Mr. Speaker. That's what Ontarians listen to on June 7. That's why there are 76 of us in this House, promise made promise can. What's up? Apparently the Minister is not aware of the party's policies but then I will go back to this question. Seems the Premier has decided to keep all the worst Liberal Hydro plans. He won't return Hydro One to full public ownership and he's going to keep the Liberal Hydro borrowing scheme that his own minister called deceitful dishonest and shady. Will he also use the same accounting tricks the Liberals use to hide the truth about the $40 billion Hydro borrowing scheme? Mr. Speaker, through you to my colleagues, can I be forgiven for not paying attention to Liberal policies on energy? Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, we continue to be focused like a laser on reducing Hydro rates for Ontario taxpayers and for Ontario ratepayers. I'm a bit worried when the NDP start talking about an exercise of going into the private sector. Those two tend not to jive, Mr. Speaker. We've come up with the plan to renew Hydro One leadership to lower costs by cancelling programs that were going to be represented a significant cost to ratepayers and taxpayers, Mr. Speaker. This is the promise we made on June 7 and this is the promise that we're going to keep, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Sit down. Sit down. Sit down. Next question, the member for Barry Innisville. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the President of the Treasury Board. In my writing of Barry Innisville, I heard people's message loud and clear. They're concerned about the lack of trust in the previous government. Every new report from the Financial Accountability Officer gave them more cause for concern about the future of this great province. Mr. Speaker, would the President of the Treasury Board please provide an update for this House on the steps the government is taking to restore the trust and the provincial finances? Thank you for the question, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the member from Barry Innisville for raising importance to the people not only of the writing of Barry Innisville, but across the province. This government is committed to ensuring accountability for how taxpayers' money is spent. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately this government is operating from a starting position where we are left with books that do not tell the real story on our province finances. That is why we are taking action now. It's time to stop digging and find out how it's going to work. Mr. Speaker, we want the public to have a full, honest and accurate picture of Ontario's finances. The people of Ontario deserve to know where the hard-earned money is going, how it's being wasted and how we are going to fix it. Thank you. Supplementary question. Back to the President of the Treasury Board. Thank you, President of the Treasury Board for his response and his swift response. The President of the Treasury Board described his recent meeting with members of the public service who were eager to share their ideas for finding efficiencies and savings, Mr. Speaker. I know the people in my writing and I imagine the people province-wide are interested in having their voices heard after feeling like the previous government failed to listen. Mr. Speaker, with the President of the Treasury Board, we want the public to know how the government is ensuring this audit is open, transparent and accountable to the people of Ontario. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we announced yesterday with the Premier and the Minister of Finance on the independent Commission of Acquiry and the line-by-line promise made, promise kept. The member from Barry and the Minister of Finance of Ontario Public Service mentioned that no minister had come by in 26 years to say hello. These are the people that will come up with the ideas for the efficiencies and savings that we intend to do. To support this work we're going to do an open tender for a transparent public request for bids. We issued that yesterday. That will take 15 days. It will be open, transparent and open. The next question will be for the people of Ontario and include the people. Next question. The member for Brampton North. First of all, I'd like to congratulate you on your election. My question is for the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. The charter applies 365 days a year, not just when this government would like it to, but the unfortunate reality is that this government's SIU rollback sends a disturbing signal that this government is not interested in reforming an extremely dated system that does nothing to address this province's current reality. Mr. Speaker, I personally have been carted. New Democrats have long been advocating for the end of carting as a first step in addressing systemic racism. So my question is, will you be making changes to allow even more carting to take place on the streets, or will you work to stamp out carting? Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Service. Mr. Speaker and Honourable Member, first of all I want to reassure everyone that the focus of this government is to ensure that safety is paramount in all communities. Personally I went out to Jane and Finch put on a bulletproof vest and spent 7 o'clock to 1 o'clock in the morning visiting sites that had previously had bullet-ridden people killed in the middle of the night. The police need tools to work with. They're doing an incredible job ensuring that our streets are safe and it's our job, I'm not a police officer, but what I can tell you is they need skills, they need tools to work with. Our work will be to ensure working with the communities to make sure that they, we build trust and that we have those tools provided to them to be able to do their jobs properly. Thank you Mr. Speaker I didn't expect the question to get answered and obviously it wasn't answered. Casually combining the responsibilities of the anti-racism directorate with the Deputy Minister of Correctional Services, now that is problematic. Not only does this lumping of responsibilities demonstrate part time attention to systemic racism only occurs in policing. This is simply not the case. Racism also occurs in the workplace, in schools and consumer establishments based on a person's postal code as well as accessing housing social services and of course the list goes on and on. Racism also occurs in these areas and this is why the Ontario NDP has been calling for the creation of an Ontario anti-racism directorate since 2015. So my question once again is how will this government commit to giving full time attention to eliminating racism in government policies, decisions and services? Minister. Thank you for the question. Once again public safety is a paramount concern to this government. Anti-racism and the issues surrounding anti-racism is something that will be looked at seriously within our ministry. We will look to understand what we can do both from the standpoint of assisting the police with the work they do and other organizations as well. This requires consultation. It requires us to be involved with stakeholders and it's every intention of this government to be open, transparent and listen to the people which is something that has not been done for a long time. Next question. The member for Scarborough, Guildwin. The 42nd parliament. I want to give a special thank you to the residents and the constituents of Scarborough Guildwood for the confidence that they have placed in me and re-elected me for a third term. Speaker, congratulations to you on your appointment as well. My question is to the Deputy Premier. Deputy Premier and also congratulations on your election and for your willingness to serve. Yesterday, the Premier appointed his commission of inquiry. Can you tell this House the cost? Deputy Premier. Mr. Speaker, to the Treasury Board. President of the Treasury Board. Mr. Speaker, thank you for the question and through you to the member. Through the election, we crisscrossed this province, the Premier crisscrossed the province. We knocked on a lot of doors and we heard the same thing. We want to restore trust in government. To do that, we said we would have an independent inquiry to look at the accounting and look at the line by line to do a value for money audit. To do this, we have hired independent commission of inquiry, independent commissioners, who are experts in their field. This is a drop in the bucket against the amount of spending and the waste and mismanagement in the last 15 years. This will be some of the best money that we have ever invested in the province of Ontario. Mr. Speaker, again to the Deputy Premier, on Monday, your government announced the cancellation of white pines with no idea of the cost to Ontarians. And it's signaled to the world that Ontario is no longer a safe place to invest new business for innovation and job growth. Mr. Speaker, we do know some numbers. The Premier has cancelled cap and trade with a cost of over $2.4 billion paid out Hydro One CEO for $9 million and over $350,000 a year to his personal friend and now health advisor and now this commission with another cost. We are less than a week into the Ford government and already the fiscal mismanagement is clear. Members to come to order. Member for Scarborough Guildwood. You say this is a line by line analysis of government in only a few weeks. Will the Deputy Premier admit that this commission is a smokescreen and an extension of your campaign meant to hide the fact that the Conservatives have no plan and to distract from the deeper cuts that are coming to things that matter the most like Ontario's health care education environment and putting Ontario jobs at risk. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, thank you for the question through you to the member. I think the member opposite has a lot of trouble with promises made promises kept. We crisscrossed this province we heard from the people and the people said life is getting harder and getting less that included we provided a platform of providing relief so lower hydro costs lower gas taxes lower taxes so this Mr. Speaker led us to look for savings and that was one of the first areas of savings where we look forward to help the people of Ontario so we stand behind the people of Ontario making $790 million of savings through these contracts that we did not need in this province Mr. Speaker and we'll stand behind that. The next question the member for Willowdale. Thank you Mr. Speaker as it's my first time rising in the house I'd like to congratulate you on your election and thank the wonderful people of Willowdale for giving me this great honour of representing. My question is for the minister of the environment. The Liberals claim that having a cap and trade style carbon tax would force people to make better choices. Well Speaker most people in Ontario don't have the choice to jump on a bus with their two kids hockey bags in tow to get to the rink for 7am practice. Most people don't have the choice to bike home after shopping for groceries to feed their family of four. Most people don't have the choice to spend an additional $35,000 on an efficient Prius. Ontarians can agree on the importance of reducing emissions but the arrogance of those who imply that these kinds of decisions should bear a syntax is astonishing. Will the minister ensure that the people of Ontario will no longer be punished with unfair taxes as a result of making these very reasonable choices? Mr. Speaker through you the member first of all I congratulate the member from Willowdale on his election and also on his recent engagement. Mr. Speaker I agree that and this government agrees that climate change presents real challenges and that we need a program that will protect our environment but as the member alluded to we need a program that's balanced. We need a program that understands the needs of working families the needs of parents to take their kids to hockey to go shopping. We will never be a government that dictates how people will behave and that punish them if they disagree with this government. This is why we're moving forward with the cap and trade legislation which has punished working families which has punished businesses our government will move quickly to fulfill that promise to fulfill our promise to working Ontarians so that they can enjoy the life of them. Mr. Speaker back to the minister. I would like to thank the minister for his strong convictions to press ahead on this file. I know how much he appreciates the value of a promise and I know how much the people of Ontario are counting on him to deliver his message. Climate change is our generation's reality and we understand the importance of taking steps to ensure that we protect our environment but there has to be a better way to achieve the results the people of Ontario demand. I know the people of Ontario are looking to our government for relief the reality is families are not making choices at all they're being forced. What is the government going to do to ensure that they get the relief? Mr. Speaker again I'd like to thank the member through you Mr. Speaker as I've said we are committed to taking action and we will be taking action in this sitting to begin the process of the orderly wind down of the cap and trade program. We don't agree with the members opposite that we should double down on cap and trade that we should put more pressure on Ontario families we don't agree with the Liberals the former government of the cap and trade program is the approach but we do understand the importance of addressing climate change but as we move forward here we will also be taking our argument to Ottawa we will also be doing everything in our power to ensure that the carbon tax cap and trade program here is not repeated by the federal government the disastrous Liberal parties in Ontario can't be imposed by a Liberal government in Ottawa and we will do everything in our power to avoid that. Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the Minister of Education on Monday fixer schools wrote a letter to the minister putting the total estimate for school repairs in her writing at a staggering $113.8 million they reminded her of the personal commitment she made to fixing our schools during the campaign and they stated clearly quote school conditions matter they impact student learning attendance and health end quote. Yesterday this government admitted that the colossal $100 million they cut from school repair funding was just collateral damage in their crusade against cap and trade they admitted that the well being of students was an afterthought will the minister's message to the students in her writing and across Ontario continue to be that they are just not a priority Thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker You know I find it rather ironic because the reality is this under 15 years of the Liberal rule of which the NDP party the opposition party brought up the entire way we've seen schools crumble across this province and I am very pleased to share with you speaker as the official opposition to please come door I have to be able to hear the response Minister of Education Thank you Speaker I'm very pleased to share with you that we're in working with ministry officials we're addressing the renovation needs of our schools and you're going to see this government always be putting students first Thank you Renovate Collegiate Institute a great high school in my writing of Parkdale Hyde Park urgent repairs among 64 others these repairs include hot water boilers roof coverings and the 90 year old structural frame urgent meaning now the students and families of Renovate Collegiate cannot afford to hold out while this government makes cuts first and promises later how much longer will the students and families in Parkdale Hyde Park will be left waiting to be perfectly clear here the $100 million in the Green Ontario fund the gas house reduction the greenhouse gas reduction fund that the liberals created was never ever going to be addressing those problems that the member opposite just described so with that said I look forward to inviting the member opposite to come forward and meet with me and share her concerns about her local school so that I can raise them with ministry officials and I can get a status update on those particular repairs thank you very much speaker next question the member for Brantford Brandt thank you Mr. Speaker and congratulations yet on your election my question is to the minister of finance who I would also like to congratulate on his election I know he will be serving the constituents of Nipissingwell for the last 15 years the people of Ontario and especially in my writing of Brantford Brandt watched Queens Park in frustration the previous liberal government time and time again mismanaged taxpayers' dollars while insiders got rich off the public purse but what's worse on top of the waste and scandal is that we were not provided an accurate picture of the province's finances it took independent officers like the auditor general and the financial accountability office to expose just what was going on but Premier Doug Ford promised to take immediate action to restore trust in Ontario's finances and he has minister could you please tell the House about the commission of inquiry the government for the people launched yesterday into the state of the province's finances thank you for the thank you for the question from the member from Brantford Brandt and congratulations on your election to this and to you speaker considering this is my first time to rise in this sitting of parliament I want to congratulate you on a great position and a great success in this job we'll be giving the commission of a financial inquiry an expanse of mandate they are going to chase down any and all budgetary spending and accounting practices that might compromise the public's faith in our public finances this work will be completely independent from my office from the Premier's office and from any government office we are asking the commission to hit the ground running and issue a report in time for it to be included in the Ontario public accounts and our fall economic statement to be considered as part of the fall economic statement as well that's why the terms of reference include a clear deadline of August 30th for their report which will be made public the people will see the exact same report we will see the commission of inquiry will look into what went wrong while the line by line audit overseen by Treasury and minister Bethlyn will look at how we fix it supplementary question supplementary follow up to the minister of finance thank you minister for explaining how the commission of inquiry will work and will complement the line by line audit as well getting to the bottom of the question of whether or not there is a clear amount of importance as we start the path back to fiscal balance in Ontario this arms length commission is truly the first step in doing just that I was pleased to hear the minister reassure Ontario taxpayers that the exact same report that he sees will be the one that the public sees that's true transparency and accountability something that sadly was not existent in the previous government the expert members of the commission of inquiry and why their specific experience is critical in ensuring Ontario taxpayers can have the faith in this province process and the eventual findings thank you again thank you to the member for the question I am confident that this commission of inquiry has the right leadership the right mandate and the right resources to get the job done their job will be to restore trust we have strong leadership at the helm with the former premier of British Columbia Gordon Campbell acting as chair Mr. Campbell will be joined by two co-commissioners Michael Horgan and Dr. Alan Rosen each of whom is among the most qualified experts in Canada to perform exactly this type of work let me express my personal confidence to this house that the road back to financial health for Ontario starts right here, right now I would like this inquiry and if it comes to me I will speaker my question is for the minister of the environment I have met with many small businesses and families who have been affected by the cancellation of the green on program on June 19th like Michael Braby who owns a small business open windows and doors and his customers who were supposed to receive the rebates the problem is with how the government is withdrawing from this is that there are so many contracts that it would take until January to finish them all now I know this government is completely comfortable with arbitrarily canceling contracts but there is no need to force those values on the small businesses and families of Ontario instead of canceling them with an October 31st deadline will the minister work to extend it until January 31st until all those contracts can be done that were entered into in good faith Mr. Speaker I think through you I think the member for his question this is a government that has been quite responsive to the various parties that were involved in this program we have set the dates based on consultation with those parties and we will stick with those dates Mr. Speaker the important thing to remember is that all of this subsidy was being paid for by taxpayers that all of this subsidy was coming out of the pockets of Ontarians and the only responsible thing to do when we made the decision on behalf of Ontarians to cut the cap and trade carbon tax program was to end that program so we worked to do that on an orderly basis and we will continue to do so Thank you Mr. Speaker again to the minister of the environment Mike has lined up jobs for November December and January that represent $177,000 in green Ontario rebates those families who signed up in good faith before the sudden cancellation of the green Ontario program now those jobs are at risk and Mike is just one of the many contractors across Ontario who are still being affected by this situation the premier promised to put money back in the pockets of Ontarians so why is he taking thousands and thousands of dollars out of the pockets of Ontario families and out of the pockets of small businesses in Ontario Minister Mr. Speaker through you thank you to the member for his follow-up question Mr. Speaker what the NDP don't appreciate is that the money for Mike is coming from Mike's from 10,000 other Marthas from Ontarians across the province who are tired of paying a tax to prop up a subsidy program and to prop up a carbon tax cap and trade program that is not working so Mr. Speaker with respect we will stick with our October 31st deadline thank you the member for Mississauga streets First of all I'd like to congratulate you on your election to the Speaker of the House and your vast meaningful service very very well Speaker my question is to the Minister of Environment the election in Ontario made one thing crystal clear Ontario voters have had enough voters in our province are stretched thin they have paid their share they are done that is why they voted for us they voted for us because we promised to scrap the Liberals cap and trade scheme they voted for us because we promised we'll follow up with a very auspicious discussion about the government's carbon tax have you raised the issue of the carbon tax with the federal Minister of the environment Minister of the environment Mr. Speaker through you to the members of Mississauga congratulations on your election I know you'll serve your constituents well Mr. Speaker this morning I did meet with the federal minister of the environment But unfortunately, when it came to the idea of the Trudeau carbon tax, we found no common ground. We both acknowledged the importance and the critical nature of dealing with climate change, but we did not agree on the solution. And Ontario will not accept a carbon tax solution. We've been given a very strong mandate from the voters of Ontario to repeal the cap-and-trade carbon tax program of the previous Liberal government. And to proceed with that program, and frankly, for the federal program to proceed, is disrespectful to the taxpayers of Ontario. Families have done their part. They've been stretched enough. And our commitment is to the people of Ontario to do whatever we can do to bring this argument forward. That's why Premier ... Thank you. Thank you. Supplementary. Speaker, back to the Minister of Environment, I am disappointed to hear about the response from the federal government, a decision that reeks of contempt for our electorate who just a month ago gave a strong mandate to our government who promised an end to cap-and-trade and carbon taxes. Ontario's economy has been hampered long enough. In recent years, under the former Liberal government, we saw trends that indicated some discretionary spending has been significantly compromised due to the added costs. Damaging policies like the carbon tax will only compound the problem. Increasing the price of goods and making life more unaffordable. As we know, a carbon tax increases the price of everything. Ontario is being told one thing, it's all pain, no gain. How will our government stand up for the people against our federal counterparts and their aggressive carbon tax? Mr Speaker, through you to the member, again, an excellent question. As I mentioned, Premier Ford today will be speaking with other premiers. We've already seen a parade of other provinces. First Saskatchewan, Ontario, PEI, that parade is only going to grow and grow. This is going to be quite a message that is going to be said to the federal government. I shared with the minister the fact that Ontarians had spoke clearly through the election of this government, through the election of these 76 members, that they rejected a carbon tax. I reminded Minister McKinnon that just months ago the Liberal Party of Ontario was reduced to seven seats, seven seats in this legislature, based on their failed carbon tax policy. Ontario has always been an industrious province. It's a province where we want people to succeed. It's a province where we care about an environment. We believe we can do those two things at once. Thank you. Member for Windsor West. Thank you, Speaker. My questions to the acting Premier. Auto and manufacturing jobs are integral to Windsor's economy. Our entire community, and many others like it, depends on the health and growth of the sector. Yet there was not one mention of the automotive sector in the PC plan. We don't know what this government has planned for the industry, if anything at all. What we do know is that the previous Conservative leaders have repeatedly shown that they would be happy to see the auto sector die, threatening to end all government investment. During the election, the Conservatives said they would cut the Jobs and Prosperity Fund, which provides millions of dollars of necessary investment in our auto sector. Speaker, are the Conservatives still content to let the auto sector die, or will they commit today to creating and implementing a comprehensive strategy to protect the industry, our local economy and the jobs that families depend on? Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, certainly we are committed to making life easier and making life more affordable. And today, Minister Wilson is in Washington, D.C. today, where he'll be vigorously advocating for the Canadian and American jobs that depend on our historic trading relationship with the United States. In fact, the U.S. Department of Commerce will be holding a public hearing on the Section 232, National Security Investigation on Imports on Automobiles and Automotive Parts. Minister Wilson was invited to attend, and he is there today speaking on behalf of the people of Ontario. Our government for the people stands shoulder to shoulder with the Government of Canada, and we will continue to work with Ontario businesses. Thank you. Back to the acting premier. President Trump recently threatened new tariffs that would decimate the auto sector in Ontario. On Monday, the Minister of Economic Development and Growth said he is going to the United States this week to talk to officials about NAFTA. He claims he will defend our jobs. But we know that in the last three weeks, this government has operated almost exclusively by making backroom deals that favour their friends and lobbyists. At the expense of workers and families. They've also just fired Ontario's trade representative to Washington. Mr. Speaker, with no commitment to an auto strategy, no plan for investment and no trade representative, something that the other side was just saying they're proud of doing away with, how can Ontarians possibly trust this government will stand up for our auto sector? Mr. Speaker, let me assure the people of Ontario that our number one priority is making Ontario open for business and protecting jobs, supporting businesses, and increasing trade so that the Ontario economy can grow and thrive. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the federal government on this issue. Jobs across our economy, workers and their families, entire communities are counting on us to defend Ontario's interests and Canada's interests. From our side, it's going to be a full court press, Speaker. Premier Ford is going to be meeting with governors. Minister Wilson is there today. We're going to continue talking about the economic benefits of trade with Ontario. Speaker, we're also going to make Ontario open for business again. Next question, the member for Burlington. Mr. Speaker, first let me say that it fills my heart to see you sitting in that seat. Mr. Speaker, my questions to the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks. Today you met the federal minister. This is the same federal minister that wants to impose a regressive carbon tax on the people of Ontario. The federal government knows Ontario can't afford that tax, but the Trudeau Liberals seem to be pushing ahead. Mr. Speaker, can the minister tell us what he told the federal counterpart? Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and again, congratulations to the member on her election. Mr. Speaker, I made it clear to Minister McCann, I made it clear to the federal minister that Ontario would not stand for a regressive Trudeau carbon tax. I made it clear that Ontario families are not prepared and have made it clear through this election recently that they are not prepared to carry the burden of an inefficient, ineffective climate change strategy. That's what I made clear. Mr. Speaker, back to the Minister. Thank you for standing up for Ontarians. Thank you for telling the Trudeau Liberals that Ontario will never accept a carbon tax. Mr. Speaker, we all know that this is a regressive tax. We know this makes life harder for Ontarians. Families have done their part. They are stretched thin. They have had enough. Mr. Speaker, can the minister outline the steps we will take to stop the Trudeau carbon tax and what he told the federal minister? Thank you. That's the House Leader said. I'm a candidate that makes sense. Mr. Speaker, we were very clear. Very clear. And listen, the minister has her point of view, but it's not their way or the highway. The people of Ontario have spoken. This government has a clear plan, and that plan is to get rid of the cap and trade program, and that is what we will do. That concludes the time we have for oral questions today. Pursuant to Standing Order 38A, the member for Brampton North has given notice of his dissatisfaction with the answer to his question given by the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services concerning respect for charity rights. This matter will be debated today at 6 p.m. This House is now in recess until 3 p.m. this afternoon. Oh, sorry. Point of order. Point of order. To introduce to the House my mom, Seerutan, who's up in the gallery today. Thank you for coming today. Once again, a point of order from Member for King Long. Very briefly, to acknowledge in the House, Janet Dugle, who's here, who's a great advocate of autism for families with autism in the City of Toronto. Thank you so much, Janet, for joining us today. That's it for another point of order. Member for Davenport. I would just like to take a moment, Mr. Speaker, to acknowledge the presence of my father, Jeffrey Stiles, an energy conservation expert in this House today. Thank you. Point of order to the Member for Timmons. I want to give the spirit of the place and welcome Chris Watson, who is actually an advocate of workers with the Canadian Union of Public Employees. I'd like to take the opportunity to welcome everyone who hasn't yet been introduced. And to remind the members, of course, that we have introduction of guests according to the standing orders at the start of the morning and at 3 o'clock as well. Thank you. So they're being no deferred votes. This House stands in recess until 3 p.m. this afternoon.