 It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you. Good morning, Speaker. Last week, we saw the emergency rooms closed in Minden and Thessalon. The urgent care centers in Fort Erie and Colburn closed overnight, permanently. We saw another cold black, no ambulances available in Windsor Essex. The past weekend, the conservative staffing crisis forced the emergency room in Carleton Place to close overnight. It was closed for 16 hours this weekend, Speaker. 16 hours, the third closure so far this year. Speaker, to the Premier, how many more ERs like Carleton Place will have to close this summer because of his government's inaction? Reply to the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Thank you, Speaker. You know, the temporary or permanent closures are disturbing for communities. But I have to say, as we continue to invest in health care, the party opposite, the NDP continue to vote against those investments. Whether it is 50 new expanded renovations of hospitals in the Province of Ontario, whether it is learning state programs that ensure that paramedics, lab technicians, and nurses can train in the Province of Ontario and have their tuition covered if they are prepared to serve in an underserved community. You continue to defend the status quo, and we continue to make the investments that are going to make generational changes in the Province of Ontario. We're doing that work. I only know that the party of the NDP and the party of the Liberals, when they were in power, were making similar investments so that we were not, in Ontario, finding the same thing that is happening across Canada. And, in fact, worldwide, shortages of health care. Thank you. A supplementary question. And emergency rooms continue to close. They continue to close. How many more is it going to be this week? Their plan is not working. And ordinary Ontarians are worried about what this means for them. Nearly 400,000 Ontarians took action in the Ontario Health Coalition's citizen referendum. Members opposite dismissed it as a stunt. But this past weekend, across this province, tens of thousands of Ontarians everywhere took action with the Ontario Federation of Labor to tell this government that enough is enough. Speaker, if the Premier is truly for the people, will he actually listen to the people? Sorry, I meant to. Offload nursing programs that allow hospitals to have dedicated staff who are able to take those patients as the paramedics come in and allow the paramedics to go back out into community and do what they want to do, which is continue to respond to 911 calls. 911, models of care, Speaker, that ensure that instead of the paramedics' only choice to be able to take that patient to a palliative care facility, to a long-term care facility, instead of exclusively and only to an emergency department, these are the changes that we have been making that we are seeing on the ground make a difference. The number of paramedics who have spoken to me saying these programs are literally life-changing in our community, please keep them coming, tells me that the programs are working, and I continue to remind them that, unfortunately, the NDP continue to vote against them. Yeah. Final supplementary. Well, I can tell the minister that it's time she put the partisanship aside and did the work it takes to fix payments in health care because this is not the reality out there across this province. Code blacks, code reds. Speaker, Ontarians are speaking out because they know this government is heading down the wrong path. They saw what happened in Quebec, where carpal tunnel surgeries at private clinics cost taxpayers 84% more than if they'd been done in the public system. They hear experts when they say that further privatization of health care will lead to even more emergency room closures and worse outcomes for patients. Real leadership is listening and changing your behavior when you've made a mistake. So back to the Premier. Will he start listening to ordinary Ontarians and stop wasting public money on privatizing care? Thank you. Wonderful. Mr. Hill. As I talk about the suite of services and programs that are available to hospitals across Ontario, I'm going to highlight one in particular, led by the Minister of Colleges and Universities, the learn and stay program that ensures that paramedics, lab tax, and nurses in the province of Ontario who choose to study and stay in those underserved communities has had an impressive 4,000 students registered for that one program alone. You talk about why you're opposed to the expansion of surgical and diagnostic centers in the province of Ontario. Centers that have operated for decades but have not had the investment of previous governments. We made that investment in January, in Windsor, in Waterloo, Kitchener Waterloo, and in Ottawa. And we now have people getting those cataract surgeries and getting that status quo doesn't work. We're making the investments. Order. The next question, once again, the leader of the opposition. Thank you, Speaker. This question is for the Minister of Transportation. People in Toronto are waiting and waiting and waiting for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT to finally go into service. Small businesses have been affected badly by the project which has gone completely off the rails. The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses say, and I'm going to quote this, they're fed up with the project's frequent delays, constantly shifting timeline, ballooning costs, and now a legal challenge that could halt construction. Speaker, to the Minister of Transportation, when will the Eglinton Crosstown finally open? Minister of Transportation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I've said before, I want to assure Ontarians that the Eglinton Crosstown construction continues to make progress. Currently, the project is 98% complete. But as I have said before, Mr. Speaker, politicians should not interfere in the timing and the opening of transit projects. When that happens, we see that transit riders are left stranded. The Ottawa LRT is a prime example of that, Mr. Speaker. But you know, Mr. Speaker, the leader of the opposition stands in this house and asks about why we can't get the Eglinton Crosstown built when her own party, when it had the chance to vote in support of it 10 years ago, declined to do so, Mr. Speaker. The NDP continues to vote against transit. They vote against subway expansion. They vote against new LRTs for the city of Hamilton and they vote against building transit faster, Mr. Speaker. Our government will continue to deliver for the people of Ontario despite the NDP and their opposition to everything you do. Order. Supplementary question. Delay after delay after delay and all while people are left waiting for transit. Transit that feels like it's never going to arrive. Local businesses taking financial hits or worse even causing up shop. These delays have been caused by the utter mismanagement of this project. And instead of taking responsibility, this minister is embroiled in a finger pointing battle between the private contractors, metro links, the TTC and even her own ministry. The Toronto Sun reported this morning that they can't even get answers on just how bad things are. Mr. Speaker, instead of blaming everybody else, can the minister specify what direct actions she has taken to fix this mess? Mr. Transportation. You know, Mr. Speaker, last week in this house, the Leader of the Opposition said to all of us that she will continue to vote against public transit. She says that she will not support things that are bad for Ontario. So let's talk about what the Leader of the Opposition thinks is bad for Ontario. She thinks that the Ontario line, which will take 28,000 cars off the road every single day. Order. That's bad for Ontario. She says that the largest transit expansion anywhere in North America that will deliver a new three-stop subway extension for the people of Scarborough, an Eglinton Crosstown West extension and a Young North subway extension as well as a new LRT for the city of Hamilton according to the Leader of the Opposition. That's bad for Ontario. And she will do everything she can to stop it. She votes against it every single time. Mr. Speaker, a transit plan that united for the first time in Canadian history four levels of government. She thinks it's bad. Thank you. Speaker, she's been the minister of transportation for four years and all she can do is play the blame game. Businesses have closed because of this. Ontarians need public transit, Speaker. We need affordable, quality, public transit to connect us between work and home, to loved ones, to opportunity. Ontario used to be able to build transit projects on time and on budget, but not under this Conservatives' watch and especially not under this Minister's watch. So back to the Minister with rumours swirling around a potential cabinet shuffle. Does this Minister of Transportation still think she's the best person for the job? Stop the clock. Stop the clock. I hesitate to insert myself in this interesting discussion. However, I'm going to start calling members who are repeatedly interjecting to order. The member for Ottawa Centre, come to order. The member for Waterloo, come to order. The Minister of Education, come to order. The member for Brampton North, come to order. The member for Kitchener, Conestoga, come to order. Start the clock. The response, Minister of Transportation. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Well, to the Leader of the Opposition, we have learned a lot of the lessons from the Eglinton Crosstown, which is why we brought in the Building Transit Faster Act because we know that businesses and residents across Eglinton were deeply affected by the impacts of the construction. Mr Speaker, this was supported by people across Ontario to introduce this legislation so that we can get shovels in the ground faster so that we can deliver on our priority transit projects, which of course she voted against, faster than ever before. Mr Speaker, I say to the Leader of the Opposition, if she wants transit, then she should vote in favour of it. What the Leader of the Opposition needs to do is pick a lane. Thank you, Speaker. Ontarians pay some of the highest cell phone and internet bills on Earth. Places around the world spend 10 times less for what we're getting, and if they can do it, why can't we? This morning, order. I joined our Ontario NDP Leader and NDP MPP colleagues to discuss a consultation plan and a set of hearings across the province to hear from consumers, telecom experts, consumer protection advocates, and the industry itself to discuss a way forward and a plan to deliver more accessible order to telecom and at better prices. Does this government agree that telecom companies are gouging Ontarians, and what are they willing to do about it? Right on top. To reply, a premium. Mr Speaker, we're putting more money into Ontarians' pockets. They voted against every single item we put forward. They voted against the 10 cents per liter gas tax. They voted against when we scrapped the license plate stickers for eight million people, an average of $240 per family. We dropped the tolls on the 412-418, saving folks millions of dollars. They voted against that. We increased ODSP by 5% tied to inflation. Voted against that. We cut the income tax to 1.1 million low-income workers. They voted against that. We increased minimum wage. They voted against that. We extended 10% tuition cut. They voted against that. And we're doubling the payments for low-income seniors, which will provide a maximum increase of $1,000 per person. Mr Speaker, the NDP campaign on making gas more expensive. We have the carbon tax king over there from Ottawa Center that wants the highest carbon tax in the entire world, and you're proud of it. It's absolutely unbelievable. You're proud of that. Remind members to make their comments through the chair. Restart the clock. The supplementary question. My God, it seems like the Premier sure hates Monday morning. Someone give him a hug. If there's one thing that this government is great at, it's at over-promising and under-delivering. And what we've seen is that this government has held back nearly 90% of their budgeted investment on broadband infrastructure going back years. So my question is simple. Why won't they make broadband access a priority? And why are they underspending in bringing access to Ontarians? Because access to internet and cell phones and telecom isn't just a luxury anymore. It is a necessity for all of us. Order. The response, the Minister of Infrastructure. Mr Speaker, I would like to know how a $4 billion investment, the largest in Canadian and our provincial history, is not making access to high-speed internet a priority. But there are 700,000 premises that did not have connections to high-speed internet. We are now working on making sure that we connect the remaining 40,000 to 60,000 premises. Now, I would say that that is very good progress, Mr Speaker. But we have not seen any support from the members opposite. But we will continue to make sure that we make those investments. But we pay our internet service providers when they fulfill their project timelines and when they need their milestones for construction, Mr Speaker. But the $4 billion is there. We will continue to make sure that everyone is connected and no one is left behind. The next question, the member for Cambridge. Hey. Thank you, Mr Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Finance. Much like the rest of the world, Ontario continues to face economic challenges. Individuals, families, workers, businesses are all troubled by the rising costs of living as prices go up everywhere, on everything from groceries to gas. Their household and business budgets are feeling ongoing financial pressure. That is why our government must implement a responsible plan that supports businesses, families, workers across the province. Speaker, can the minister explain how our government is continuing to support people, businesses, during these uncertain economic times? Good question. To respond to the government, the Minister of Finance. Thank you, Mr Speaker, and thank you to the member from Cambridge for that very insightful question. You know, Mr Speaker, our government has a responsible plan to ensure that all of Ontario remains on a strong and steady economic growth channel. Our plan is a commitment to support families, to support individuals, to support workers in this great province, as well as our business partners. We've laid a strong fiscal foundation, Mr Speaker, which will continue to build Ontario into the future. As inflation was rising, as the Premier said, we took action early to help the hardworking families of Ontario. We eliminated license plate renewal fees, as well as stickers and refunded two years of past fees for eligible vehicle owners. We extended the current gas tax till December 31st, Mr Speaker. That is what the people of Ontario expect and deserve from this government. Thank you, Mr Speaker. It's encouraging to hear that our government is continuing to move forward with measures that will support people and businesses in Ontario. That's right. This legislature recently passed Bill 85, Building a Stronger Ontario Act, which in advance of our government's economic plans to help build a stronger and more resilient economy for today and in the future. However, the people of Ontario expect our government will continue to follow through on our commitments to lower costs, build key infrastructure, build projects faster and attract more jobs and investments. But most of all, the people of Ontario want our government to focus on issues that will help make everyday life more affordable, and they deserve nothing less. Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on actions that our government is taking to make life more affordable for the people of Ontario? The Minister of Finance. Thank you, Mr Speaker, and thank you again to the member for that question. You know, Mr Speaker, we're making transit more affordable by eliminating double fares for most local transit services in the greater Golden Horseshoe area when communers use go transit services. As the Premier mentioned, we took off the tolls off the 412 and 418, but it doesn't stop there, Mr Speaker, freezing tuitions across the province after already lowering tuition by 10%, negotiating the best child care deal in Canada, saving families an average of $12,000 per year, Mr Speaker, for low income seniors. Uncertain times they're even more challenging. That's why we temporarily doubled the guaranteed annual income system, payments for eligible seniors until December 2023, expanding the gains program for up to 50% of an increase in recipients and adjusted for the first time ever for benefits to inflation, Mr Speaker. Our track record speaks for itself. We're committed to keeping costs down for the people of this province. Thank you very much. The next question is a member for Kiwetnaw. Miigwe, Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Education. Last week, Lampton Kent School District Board wrote to the Minister of Education about the 63% cut to their Indigenous education funding. Speaker, it's wrong to cut funding during this history month. School boards across Ontario need resources for curriculum on residential schools, on treaties, on Indigenous history, as well as land-based learning. But I don't know what's wrong with our history. Speaker, how is the board supposed to implement their Indigenous education programming with 63% cut and funding for next year? Minister of Education. Mr. Speaker, we are very committed to ensuring Canadians learn about their Indigenous history, about Indigenous history in the province and country. It's why funding within the school board allocation is up overall at $120 million. It is the highest level of funding in Ontario history. Now, beyond the money, beyond the money, I will note that the member opposite rightly speaks about our curriculum. The mandatory learning students could be better informed about our past. And I'm proud that this coming September, that this coming September, every child in grades one through three will finally learn about residential school knowledge because we are mandating it in the curriculum effective this coming September. That's a positive step forward. We made that announcement with Indigenous leaders who've called on the former government to get it done. They didn't. We are, we're committed to the cause. And we'll continue to work with members opposite to get this right and strengthen Indigenous learning right across Ontario. And that's a wonderful question. I remember through Ottawa last week. It's amazing how the minister's record-breaking spending keeps translating into cuts on the ground. It's like the opposite of magic. The Lampton Kent District School Board isn't just losing Indigenous funding. They're facing a cut of $8 million or 2.5% of their total budget. This is on top of the fact that the government is only funding one quarter of the actual cost of special education for Lampton Kent. In all parts of the province, kids need more support, not less. So why is this government forcing school boards like Lampton Kent to implement cuts and take supports away? Thank you for your education. Mr. Speaker, the government is increasing investments by $590 million more dollars for the coming September. Our special education grant is up across the board. Over $3.2 billion dollars. It is dramatically higher than when the former levels were in place. We've hired over 3,200 EAs. And I appreciate the inconvenient truth associated with funding, staffing, and support for school boards, but we are increasing the support across the board in Lampton Kent, Middlesex, and in every single region of Ontario to suggest otherwise is frankly preposterous. No one believes the NDP. This is the default. Every year there's a narrative from the opposition of the skies falling. We are increasing supports to help kids get back on track. And look at the numbers. Look at the investments. $590 million more dollars and roughly 8,000 additional staff, even though, Mr. Speaker, we don't have additional kids in our schools. We'll continue to be there for on the trail. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Labor, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. Great guy. The sad reality, Speaker, is that everyone in our province, unfortunately, knows someone who has been negatively impacted by the ongoing opioid epidemic. It's a distressing fact that over 2,000 individuals died last year from opioid-related causes. And about one-third of those individuals worked in the vital construction sector. That's why our government must take action and ensure that Ontario workers have access to life-saving equipment, like law-ops loan kits, but when and where they need them. Our government must do more to protect Ontarians who are struggling with addictions in order to reduce preventable workplace deaths. Speaker, will the Minister please explain what actions our government is taking to protect our workers here in Ontario? Mr. Labor, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. Thank you, Speaker. I want to thank the member for Hastings, Lennox and Addington for this very important question. Speaker, our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, is working every day to save lives. That's why we are actively expanding the availability of naloxone kits throughout Ontario. Naloxone is a vital medication that can temporarily reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. As of last week, employers are now required to have a life-saving naloxone kit on hand and workers trained on how to use these naloxone kits. Through our Ontario workplace, naloxone program, we have now distributed more than 1,000 free naloxone kits to workplaces across the province. This initiative enhances public awareness of opioid addiction, combats a stigma, and ultimately saves lives. Thank you. Thank you, Supplementary Question. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the Minister. It is very encouraging to hear that naloxone kits have been distributed to many workplaces. Let's face it, the seriousness of the opioid addiction and the risk of accidental overdoses simply cannot be understated. For the Ontario workplace naloxone program to be effective, naloxone kits must be available in workplaces where there's a risk of opioid overdose. Additionally, people must be trained to know how to administer naloxone properly. That's why our government must implement requirements and directives for employers so that they can provide a safe workplace for their employees. Speaker, can the Minister please explain how our government is supporting worker safety and protection through the workplace naloxone program? Great question. Once again, the Minister of Labor. Thank you again to the member for this question. Speaker, one lost life to an overdose is one too many. Every one of these deaths is preventable. Our workplace naloxone program is the very first of its kind anywhere in North America. We are supporting at-risk businesses by providing them with free access to naloxone kits and comprehensive training for those workers to use those naloxone kits. Working with our Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, we have a strategy to give people the second chance that they deserve. We're taking an education first approach that is focused on giving employers the tools they need to do their part. Speaker, I encourage everyone to visit Ontario.ca forward slash workplace naloxone to learn more. Thanks. Next question, the member for Hamilton West and Caster Dundas. My question this morning is to the Premier. Another expert report has just been released this time using advanced mapping technology that shows yet again this government does not need to build on the green belt to achieve our housing goals. Yes, we are in a housing crisis. We need housing. We need affordable housing. But this study shows that Ontario could deliver the next 30 years of housing in the Greater Toronto Hamilton area using a portion of land already zoned for development. So my question giving the mountain mounting evidence that we already have the necessary land to build housing. Why are you putting the green belt our farms our forests and our wetland at risk? Members to make the comments to the chair to apply the Associate Minister of Housing. Thank you Speaker and good morning. I'd like to thank the member opposite for the question. Speaker, we all know that Ontario is expected to grow by more than two million people by 2031 with approximately a million and a half living just in the Greater Golden Horseshoe alone. The federal government has also announced that Canada will increase immigration by another half a million newcomers by 2025. We know Ontario is expected to get a significant portion of New Canadians and so we have to start planning now. So the next generation of Ontarians have a place to live. The decision we made will result in the construction of at least 50,000 new homes and will expand the green belt by approximately 2,000 acres. Speaker, Ontario's populations has reached a historic 15 million people last year. Response? It's expected that this growth is going to continue. We are going to get a million and a half homes built by 2031 because we desperately needed Speaker. Thank you. Thank you. My question is to the Premier. The Conservatives want to open up an area of land as big as the size of Toronto on green belt land and farmland even though experts have been telling you loud and clear even your own experts have been telling you that there is more than enough land already available in areas zone for development. We'll get this. Land speculators are reading the tea leaves and they are buying up protected farmland. Farm prices have gone up by 20% in the last year alone. New farmers and young farmers can't compete with these land speculators and they're worried they're never going to get into the housing sector in the farming sector. To strengthen our farming sector can the Conservatives commit to not opening up any more green belt land to needless development? To make the comments through the Chair the Associate Minister of Housing. Thank you Speaker We all know that we are in a housing supply crisis contrary what the member from Hamilton Centre remarked last week who said that the housing crisis was manufactured. Speaker I am so proud to be part of a government that's taking a responsible targeted approach to deliver on its plan to build a million and a half homes by 2031 and this plan is just part of our logic commitment to make life easier and much more affordable for the people of Ontario. Speaker Under this Premier and this Infrastructure Minister we're investing more than $159 billion over the next decade to support infrastructure projects including transit highways schools hospitals long-term care projects this Transportation Ministers building more than more municipalities were improving local transit this Labour Minister we're doubling our economic immigrants and under the second development Minister we're attracting $7 billion in St Thomas Speaker our province is growing we're welcoming new companies we need to build housing and we're going to get it Thank you Speaker My question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Back in 2019 this government did a good thing by creating provincially significant employment zones and identifying areas of high economic output The Nantico-Condustrial Park in my riding of Haldeman Norfolk includes both Stelco and Imperial Oil and was included in this initiative rightfully so Fast forward to last spring in Haldeman when the mayor at the time dropped news on the county he supported a proposed 15,000 home community on 4,200 acres surrounding the industrial park Stelco maintains a provincial rezoning of the lands could imperil the future of the company's Lake Erie works and Imperial Oil has the same opinion Haldeman County needs these good paying jobs and an industrial park is where they should remain Speaker will the Minister assure Haldeman County and the tenants of the industrial park that this government will protect the jobs at the steel mill and the refinery as they said they would do in 2019 To reply the Associate Minister of Housing Thank you Speaker I do want to thank the member opposite for her question and Speaker yes it's very very important that we have high employment zones we have many of them right across this province but what we also heard from many of these employers is the desperately needed housing in and around those employment zones so that their employees could get to work much faster rather than sitting in commutes for hours and so we're listening and we're making sure that the people of this province can get to work in a timely manner by still protecting those high employment zones and getting that buildings bringing in this investment and everybody has a great place to live, to work and to raise their family Thank you Speaker Supplementary Thank you Speaker the idea of putting 40,000 people in Ontario's largest industrial park was supported by the former Haldeman County Mayor who unexpectedly ended up on the ballot for the party of this government last June it appears something interesting developed between 2019 and last spring because now we see this government doing away with the growth plan for the greater golden horseshoe surely we're not so desperate to build houses that we would subject newcomers to life in Ontario's largest industrial park chaos across the highway six corridor and the inability to meet the health care needs of the current population has many people concerned about adding 40,000 people to the area two elections have been fought on this issue and voters feel an industrial park is not the place for a city as the MPP for Haldeman Norfolk it is my duty to bring forward the public's opinion not form it for them Speaker if the consultation on the provincial planning statement concludes that the people of Ontario want to see these employment lands protected will this government uphold that protection including the employment lands at nanny coke the associate minister of housing Speaker as mentioned earlier I do want to thank the member opposite again for her question but as I mentioned earlier it is so important that we want we have these employment zones but two that people can actually get to and from work in a timely fashion by allowing housing being built around those employment zones we are making it easier for people to get to work easier to raise their families easier to stay within their own communities and I think that's extremely important and that is also why we're taking the provincial policy statement together and putting it together with the growth place to grow and making it one provincial policy statement to make the wording so much easier more easy to understand and easier to follow for all municipalities thank you very much Speaker next question member forward Chatham Kent Leamington Speaker I thank you speaker my question is to the minister of natural resources and forestry in august 2021 my constituents who we really experienced a terrifying and life-changing event when a gas explosion occurred at the site of an old abandoned well this explosion had a devastating impact on our people our businesses and our community thankfully there was no loss of life but lasting economic damage remains as well as legitimate concerns about the potential for similar occurrences throughout other communities no community in Ontario should ever have to experience such an event that is why our government must take urgent action to address this serious issue Speaker can the minister please explain what actions our government is taking to address the environmental impact that legacy oil and gas wells have in our province Minister of natural resources and forestry Speaker and I just want to say to the good people of Wheatley you're never far from our thoughts and what happened in 2021 continues to shape our actions today and I was pleased to be joined by the member from Chatham Kent Leamington and thank you for the question and the member of Essex on Friday to make an announcement that's very important to southwest Ontario over the course of the next three years our government will provide over 26 million dollars to develop a plan to address legacy oil and gas wells in the province to start eligible municipalities will be able to apply for funding for specific projects aimed at keeping their communities safe and in addition this funding will help municipalities address risks and challenges of oil and gas wells invest in plugging more abandoned oil and gas wells and conduct more science and research Speaker this is the first step in a commitment to the people of southwest Ontario we've heard their concerns and will continue to provide resources to protect and build a stronger problem The investment our government is making is a positive first step toward developing a strategy to address the serious implications of abandoned oil and gas wells it's clear the explosion in Wheatley emphasized the seriousness of these issues in the need for urgent and customized action the potential for the release of dangerous gases presents a number of genuine safety risks and concerns this is why it's essential our government gains a deeper understanding of the extent of the challenges associated with legacy oil and gas wells throughout southwestern Ontario Speaker can the minister please elaborate on the scope and design of the strategy to address these risks posed by legacy oil and gas wells Mr. Natural Resources in Forestry Thanks again speaker and thanks again for the members question Speaker Friday's announcement it really marks a historic first step in the development of a comprehensive action plan to help tackle the complex challenges of legacy oil and gas wells in Ontario and our government is building on our strategy building on lessons learned and feedback from mayors fire chiefs indigenous communities industry experts and members of the public and as I mentioned on June 2nd in addition to the funding our government has also announced an action plan that will have three main principles increasing our understanding of the risks of plugging oil and gas wells taking actions to reduce and mitigate these risks and implementing measures that are focused on preventing petroleum related emergencies and enhancing our emergency preparedness we understand our job is not done speaker which is why we'll be holding additional consultations as we look towards the next steps speaker we're just getting started in this songhouse will not rest until we've delivered on our commitment to the great people of southwest ontario will not rest the next question the member from ag with senator thank you speaker through you to the minister of health last week we learned that the urgent cares in poor coburn in fortiery are having their hours reduced by half permanently this follows the recent closure of after hours emergency surgeries at welland hospital welland is where poor coburn patients go if they cannot access service in poor coburn does the minister understand that real people don't plan to need emergency surgery prior to 10 pm that's why it's called an emergency and will the minister stop blaming volunteers on hospital boards for this crisis and finally take responsibility deputy premier and minister of health so as i have said many times speaker when hospital leaderships make decisions about how to best serve their community order it is not in our interest as local members or government members to second guess those locally decided upon decisions having said that the investments that we are making to ensure that we have as an example last august directed the college of nurses of ontario to quickly assess review and expedite licenses for internationally educated nurses means that in last year alone we had over 12,000 new nurses licensed in the province of ontario staff speaker that were internationally trained nurses we've done the same with the college of nurses of the the uh response insurgents of ontario we will continue to make sure that pathways for licensing in the province of ontario is removed the red tape is removed so that we can have as many people as thank you thank you and the supplementary question speaker after the closure announcement the minister released the following statement we've received assurances from Niagara health that they have consistently promoted alternatives to emergency department presentation through the know your options campaign through you speaker what is the alternative to emergency care when you need life saving emergency surgery there is no emergency care available and the at the urgent care or the emergency department will this minister act before one of my constituents dies because they cannot get emergency service so the member is doing exactly opposite of what he should be doing as a local representative in that community instead of explaining instead of standing behind their local the hospital decisions he's second guessing the hospital leadership and suggesting that they do not know their jobs I will never do that as a minister or as our government we will continue to invest we have done that through surgical recovery programs that hospitals have been able to expand and widen the number of surgeries that they can do with funds from the province of Ontario we've done it to make sure that we have in the province of Ontario options including 24 seven health services provided with registered nurses so individuals can have that conversation and make sure that they are going to the most appropriate level of care in the province of Ontario respond thank you the next question the member for Carlton thank you Mr Speaker my question is for the president of the Treasury Board since being reelected our government must remain focused on growing the economy and unlocking new opportunities for businesses in every corner of our province our government needs to understand that Ontario's economic prosperity relies on the success of our local businesses and the strength of our local community the president of the Treasury Board recently announced changes to our government's procurement directives in order to leverage Ontario's purchasing power and to strengthen our province's immense economic potential our government must continue to take the necessary actions in order to ensure that businesses in Ontario can remain competitive Speaker through you can the president please explain how these changes to our government's procurement directives will support Ontario businesses thank you you respond the president of the Treasury Board thank you very much Mr Speaker and thank you to the member for Carlton for her question for far too long the previous Liberal government Mr Speaker drove up the cost of doing business in this province and drove out good paying jobs we are taking a better approach through the building Ontario business initiative our government is leveraging Ontario's buying power to drive demand for made in Ontario goods and services the recently announced updates to Ontario's procurement directives will provide Ontario businesses with greater access to public procurement opportunities for example Mr Speaker a business in Carlton who invests in Ontario who uses local supply chains and creates good paying jobs right here in our province will no longer be put at a disadvantage bonds when bidding for government contracts Speaker our government is proud to buy Ontario supplementary thank you Speaker the residents and businesses in my riding of Carlton will be reassured to hear the building Ontario business initiative will only further enhance our government's support for made in Ontario goods and services however the building Ontario business initiative is just one measure our government must take in order to support Ontario businesses and leverage Ontario's purchasing power there is more work that needs to be done to reduce the administrative burden of the procurement process and more ways to support the adoption of Ontario made innovations Speaker through you can the minister please elaborate on what additional steps our government is taking to modernize the procurement system and make it easier to buy from Ontario businesses thank you the President of the Treasury Board thank you very much Mr Speaker our government is committed to enhancing support for Ontario made innovation and will continue to deliver better value for Ontario's taxpayers as we move forward and modernizing Ontario's procurement processes through supply Ontario our government is taking meaningful steps to reduce red tape faced by small businesses in the procurement process by centralizing governments the supply chain and delivering better value for taxpayers by harmonizing contracts across the Ontario public sector additionally our government is developing an innovation pathway in collaboration with supply Ontario we will make it easier for services health services others to to procure from Ontario's med tech innovators and will remove marriage response for an adoption of promise technologies technologies that improve outcomes for Ontarians we will continue to move forward with a plan that buys Ontario as a member for Hamilton Centre Mr. Speaker my question is to the Premier later this afternoon the grassroots organization TTC Riders will be hosting a press conference at Newspark in the press gallery about the failures of the family of services program with the unveiling of this program the TTC's wheel trans tenure strategy set a diversion target to restrict 50% of wheel trans users from full door to their service by 2025 this essentially means that disabled people will be kicked off of the service this government has already made it impossible for disabled people to travel safely in the GTA with AOTA targets that have not and will not be met by 2025 kicking disabled people off of wheel trans to cut costs is a shame will this government repeal the family of services model and get back to meeting AODA targets for seniors and accessibility thank you the member for raising important question I strongly believe that all Ontarians should have equal opportunity regardless of ability Ontario follows AODA and when it comes to local issues we know the local organizations are the ones that understand the needs of their community and that is why the AODA has almost 20 years ensure communities to have accessibility plans community by community they are making sure project by project the AODA is being followed we encourage all local organization to work with advocates to support the uniqueness of their community and to live up to what the AODA meant for us to do Mr. Speaker again my question is to the Premier to quote disability rights activist Mayan Ziv until we live in an equitable society where I can hail an accessible cab or cross a snow plowed street without barriers wheelchairs calling back services that support people with disabilities is not acceptable and she's right kicking 50% off of the folks who use wheelchairs off of the paratransit system is an unfair attack on disabled people who deserve the right to travel safely just like everyone else but who won't be able to use the public transit system this government keeps talking about getting disabled people to go to work but is making it impossible to get to work it seems like a contradiction so I'm asking again will this government repeal the family of services model and get back to meeting AODA targets including transit targets Mr. Senior we can accessible Mr. Speaker to supporting 444 municipalities there's no stronger advocate than this premier the minister of municipal affairs and housing continue to ensure ongoing support for local governments the minister of transportation has made sure that all municipalities get what they need are getting more than their fair share when it comes to transit this policy alone Toronto received 185 million dollars in gas tax since 2018 this government has provided close to 1 billion dollars in gas tax supporting municipal transit when it comes to public transit infrastructure this government is making transit move accessible every day great question the member for Cambridge thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of red tape production under the leadership of our government and the premier Ontario is once again a destination for opportunity investment and growth and this competitive economic climate is important that we continue to take bold action to continuously drive productivity and innovation this means eliminating burdensome red tape on people and businesses across our province while our government has brought forward 11 red tape production packages the people of Ontario are looking to our government to continue to focus on solutions that will make life easier for people and businesses Speaker can the minister please explain how our government is strengthening our economy by reducing red tape why the minister of red tape production thank you Mr. Speaker I want to thank the member from Cambridge for the important question Mr. Speaker people of Ontario gave our government a historic mandate to continue the work that we started in 2018 to reduce red tape improve access to government and make it easier to invest and build in our province with the passage of our latest red tape bill that's exactly what we're doing Mr. Speaker it builds on our government's strong record of ending the frustration and delays from unnecessary red tape and the results speak for themselves Mr. Speaker we've eliminated 16,000 different kinds of pieces of red tape Mr. Speaker which has now helped Ontario businesses save over 800 million dollars in emerald also helped create over 600,000 new jobs Mr. Speaker last year alone there were 85,000 new registered new businesses that rest thank you a supplementary question thank you Mr. Speaker the people of Ontario strongly support the reduction of duplicate confusing and burdensome regulations that slow down our province's long-term economic prosperity while the previous Liberal government operated under the assumption that more red tape is better for everyone this is not a reality no unfortunately for many businesses and entrepreneurs that meant major difficulties frustration unnecessary delays while trying to access government services when starting their operations sadly the opposition Liberals and DP still hold this mindset of saying no to measures that will improve our government services and make it easier to invest and build in Ontario Speaker can the minister please elaborate on the benefits that have been achieved through less red tape and stronger economy act Minister red tape production thank you Mr. Speaker I want to thank my colleague for the question once again the 42 different actions being taken in the less red tape stronger economy act are game changers for Ontario Mr. Speaker and the member is correct the Liberals and the NDP have said no to all of them unfortunately Mr. Speaker they said no to saving businesses $800 million each and every year Mr. Speaker they said no to delivering broadband to every community in our province Mr. Speaker they said no to improving road safety they said no to helping farmers Mr. Speaker while the opposition wants people and businesses to pay more and be dependent on governments Mr. Speaker we will never let that happen in the side of the house thank you Mr. Speaker thank you the next question the member for London West thank you Speaker my question is to the Premier the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has identified London as a child care desert with only enough licensed spaces for 12% of eligible infants Brenda Feeney told me that her grandson is 150th on the list at one London Centre and 60th on the list at another his family was hopeful about the place where he was 20th on the list but two infant rooms were just forced to close there because of a shortage of qualified staff Speaker without a child care workforce you can't have a child care system when will this government start paying early childhood educators fairly so that we can attract and retain the workforce we need to provide London families with the child care they deserve Mr. Education Well Mr. Speaker I'm very pleased to confirm the member opposite that the City of London is going to be receiving an allocation of additional 2000 spaces in the first round and an additional 809 in the second round and that would not have been achieved if we followed the new democratic advice which would have omitted a third of child care operators in London the for-profit centres in your own riding would have been denied participation decouple the EC issue you would have removed the capacity of one in three parents from having the choice of lower fees you've ideologically opposed options for parents because you know better bureaucrats and politicians instead of the people who pay the bills and raise their kids it's absolutely unconscious you would have denied that many participants from enrolling 92% said yes to our offer we have a reduction fees by 50% 46 dollars to 23 dollars today and yes we're going to help support the creation of 86,000 more spaces in London and right across Ontario streets And do you mind members to make their comments through the chair a supplementary question the member of the St. Catharines Thank you Speaker As Niagara families confront the summer child care squeeze with providers barely running at 60% due to staff shortages I am troubled and so should you be remarkably two-thirds of our Niagara ECE graduates are international students The minister should be deeply concerned about retaining these graduates in Ontario Minister how can we expect to keep our trained ECEs with a base salary of 19 dollars 6 dollars less than any other provinces 14 months post our federal child care agreement Through you Speaker I ask will the minister present a clear timeline for a workforce strategy to secure essential child care for our families here in Ontario for education Well I appreciate the question for the member opposite I agree we do need quality ECEs we need to retain them we need to recruit them it's why we've planned to hire thousands of them across Ontario with respect to wages in the federal deal we did accept that we're going to create a wage floor for the first time in the sector's history we've increased the wages by one dollar per hour every year over the course of this agreement and we've committed to going further Mr. Speaker in the members community in the Niagara region there's an additional roughly 3,000 more spaces which we are going to fund to support expanded access to reduce weightless and make life affordable for families in Ontario we are going to invest in a quality childcare program that's going to reduce fees that one of the great legacies I think when it comes to affordability during this time of rising inflation federally is that this government has slash childcare fees by 50% for non-profit and for profit for everyone Mr. Speaker that's a good thing for people in Ontario the next member's question the member for Carl merci monsieur le président thank you Speaker my question is for the minister of francophone affairs our government has to support our francontarian population Ontario's francophony is a huge asset for the whole province and we have to continue to support the francophone community with initiatives that will contribute to ensure their success for the years to come just last week our government published it's a second annual report on francophone affairs the report underscores the achievements that we have made to support Ontario francophones and support their economic cultural and social development speaker can the minister explain the importance of this annual report minister thank you Speaker and I thank my colleague for her excellent question French language services are absolutely fundamental for Ontario's francophone community and are a major priority for our government the second annual report that I submitted last week is part of the Ontario French language services strategy which seeks to improve planning within ministries to improve access to quality services in French this report clearly shows our government's commitment to enhance transparency and accountability I'm proud of our government's achievements and of the modernization of the French language services act contrary to opposition members who did nothing for 15 years when it was a matter of taking important steps for Ontario francophone only the Ford government is taking real substantial measures thank you Speaker and thanks to the minister for her answer it's really wonderful to hear about our government's achievements when it comes to supporting Ontario's francophone population having access to quality service in French in different sectors is of vital importance not only does this enable Ontario's French speaking population to reserve support in their language of choice but it also ensures better access to service that can contribute to better outcomes in education health care and other sectors with the minister please tell us more about the way our government is taking a cross government approach to better serve Ontario's francophone population thank you thank you Speaker the ministry of francophone affairs plays a central role to provide Ontario Francorons francophones with better access in French in for frontline services our first goal is to see how our ministries can better work together to offer accessible quality service to Ontario's francophone community progress in health care education and in post-secondary education as well as in training and employment show our whole government's commitment to look after the vitality of our our francophone community I'll continue to work with my colleagues in government to make further progress in francophone around francophone questions and to ensure that the francophone community is heard loud and clear thank you morning