 It is now time for Question Period. The leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Premier Section 11.8 of the Liberal Party's Constitution says you, the leader, must communicate your decision. Order, please. No interjections. I need to hear the question because I'm listening carefully. Constitution says that you as leader have to communicate your decision as soon as possible if you've made the decision to appoint a candidate. You claim you made your decision in November and you claim you told Mr. Olivier of your decision in December. Yet you didn't tell the Writing Association until January 7. Premier, why did you breach your own Constitution and wait for over a month to tell the Writing Association of your decision? Well, Mr. Speaker, again, let me be very clear and I've made this statement about my decision many, many times. It was well known, Mr. Speaker, that Glen Tebow was going to be our candidate in Sudbury. And, Mr. Speaker, the Writing Association president and nominations commissioner on the day of the by-election. I also want to hear the answers and I don't want any more interjections from the member from Timmins James Bay. That's when the paperwork was completed, but it was well known that Glen Tebow was going to be our candidate. Thank you. Back to the Premier. During question period, you have repeatedly said I had made that decision at the end of November. Once I had met with Glen Tebow, that decision was made. Yet Andrew Olivier told the OPP the conversation he had with you on December 11 was the same as the one he had had earlier that day with Jerry Law Heed Jr. In that conversation, he was being offered a job or a bribe to step aside as the candidate and to nominate Glen Tebow instead. Premier, if you made the decision in November, why didn't you tell Andrew Olivier on December 11 that there would be no nomination? Mr. Speaker, let me say once again that once I had had a meeting with Glen Tebow because I hadn't met him. After all, he'd been part of another party. He was making a decision about his future. At the end of November, I made a decision that he would be the best candidate for us in Sudbury. That was the decision that I had made. The paperwork was completed in January. It was well known long that Glen would be the candidate for us in Sudbury. Thank you, final supplementary. Premier, the taped conversations between Pat Sobera and Jerry Law Heed Jr. with Andrew Olivier stand in stark contrast to your statement, Premier, that Andrew Olivier was told before December 11 that he would not be the Liberal candidate. Premier, you have repeatedly asked for evidence to back up your version of events. Your letter of January 7 tears even more holes in your implausible story. You need to end this farce, stop denigrating the office that you hold. Tell Ontarians once and for all, did you authorize Pat Sobera or Jerry Law Heed Jr. to have those conversations with Mr Olivier? Mr Speaker, once again I take this matter very seriously and the member opposite knows that there's an investigation going on and that that investigation is happening outside of this process and I have to say that I actually agree with the PC House leader who on February 27 said this Mr Speaker he said that and I quote stop interfering in an ongoing investigation and let it run its course Mr Speaker. The fact is that there's an investigation going on. I am going to let that investigation run its course Mr Speaker but it's going to run its course outside of this legislature independently of the House Mr Speaker. Premier, Mr Speaker, Premier Associate Chief Justice Douglas Cunningham of Ontario Superior Court wrote, appointments to government offices are not to be traded for political favour. They are appointments that must be made in a fair transparent manner. Premier you tried to sneak an appointment or job offer to Andrew Olivier past the people of Ontario. It was not fair, it was not open, it was not transparent. Premier, again, did you direct Jerry Lahi Jr. and or Pat Sabara to offer Mr Olivier an appointment to step aside? Good question. Let me just again say I challenge the premise of the question and the statements that the interim leader of the opposition has made and I would remind him Mr Speaker that there is an investigation going on. I would also remind him of what the chief electoral officer said Mr Speaker that he said that he determined that the allegations against me and the member for Sudbury were baseless Mr Speaker. He went on to say and I quote, I am neither deciding to prosecute a matter nor determining anyone's guilt or innocence. Those decisions are respectively for prosecutors and judges unquote. He did not say that those are decisions for the interim leader of the opposition Mr Speaker. Those are decisions for the people who are involved in the investigation and I want to let that unfold as it must. Back to the Premier. Justice Tunningham has also said that the criminal code bribery provisions are aimed at preventing influence peddling in order to protect the public's confidence in the integrity and appearance of integrity of the government. Premier according to a recent poll the public's confidence in your integrity is pretty low. Two-thirds of Ontarians want your deputy chief of staff to resign. Premier, we restore some semblance of integrity to your office and step aside if charges are laid against either Pat Sabara or Jerry Lawey Jr. Mr Speaker, I made a statement two Fridays ago Mr Speaker. I said that I said that there were clear actions that needed to be taken if there were a charge laid against anyone and that Pat Sabara would step aside if that were the case Mr Speaker. That's in the public realm. I made it very clear but I also said Mr Speaker that there is an investigation going on. We need to let that investigation unfold and that investigation will unfold outside of this house Mr Speaker. Premier Your very own Jerry Lawey Jr. once said solution by fat cats in Toronto may not be the right solution for Sudbury but you made the decision Premier to appoint a candidate from behind your desk here at Queens Park and you were prepared to offer Mr Olivier a government appointment or job so he wouldn't stand in the way of your decision. Premier, you have sully the integrity and the dignity of the office you hold salvage what little public confidence is left in you commit to the people of Ontario that you will resign as Premier or Pat Sabara are convicted of an offensive bribery. Premier I have said clearly that I will cooperate with the authorities that that investigation is taking place outside this house and we need to let it unfold there Mr Speaker and I will continue to work closely with the authorities as is the right thing to do Mr Speaker. Thank you. Your question. My question is for the Premier. On what date did the Premier provide the Liberal Parties nomination commissioner and Sudbury Riding Association President the written notice that she was appointing Glen Tebow as the Liberal candidate in Sudbury. Thank you very much Mr Speaker as the member opposite I think knows full well I have made many statements about my decision to have Glen Tebow as the candidate in Sudbury. I made that decision Mr Speaker after I met him at the end of November I think the member opposite also knows that I formally wrote to the Liberal Parties Association President and nominations commissioner on the day that the by-election was called. Mr Speaker that's when the paperwork was completed the decision was made much before that and it was well known that Glen was going to be our candidate. Well Speaker January 7th that's the date almost a month after Pat Cerbera and Jerry Loughey were taped offering Andrew Olivier anything he wanted to step aside almost a month after those phone calls were made on behalf of the premier almost a month after the premier's own conversation with Mr Olivier there is now written evidence in addition to taped evidence that the premier's story does not add up Speaker. Now I asked the premier will she have one more conversation with her sole Speaker this time about the need to come clean with the people of Ontario. Mr Speaker you know when I say it was well known that Glen Tebow was going to be our candidate it really wasn't that long ago there were newspaper reports it was quite it was quite in the public realm that Glen Tebow was going to be our candidate Mr Speaker so I would just say to the member she could check the record and she can it's true the paperwork was completed on the day that the election was called Mr Speaker but it was common knowledge long before that Glen Tebow was going to be our candidate. Thank you final supplementary. The premier insisted that she decided to appoint Glen Tebow long before the Liberal operatives were dangling jobs in front of Andrew Olivier but the premier's letter to the Liberal party makes it clear that she only appointed Glen Tebow after those attempts had failed this is a question that the premier has been asked 44 times but she has not given a straightforward answer yet. Who gave Pat Cerbera and Jerry Lawheed their orders to get Mr Olivier out of the way so that Glen Tebow could have an uncontested nomination. Thank you Mr Speaker again I will say that the investigation that's going on is going on outside of this legislature and it's very important that it be independent and that we let that unfold and in fact the NDP member for Timmons James Bay said last week and I quote you do have a larger responsibility to make sure you're careful in your use of words so that you don't interfere in any way I'm quote that's the member for Timmons James Bay Mr Speaker I think if the leader of the third party would just turn to her right and talk to the member for Timmons James Bay she would understand that it's important that all of us let the investigation take place outside. I made a decision at the end of November that Glen Tebow would be the best candidate for us in Sudbury Mr Speaker to confirm to make sure he heard me the member from Renfrew Nipissing Pembroke come door. New question the leader of the third party Thank you Speaker my next question is also for the Premier there is evidence that Andrew Olivier was offered any job he wanted in order to get out of the Premier's way there is evidence that Pat Sorbera were acting on orders from the Premier and there is evidence in black and white that the Premier made the decision to elect her candidate after attempts to get Andrew Olivier out of the way failed of course the Premier still claims that all this evidence is wrong does the Premier have any evidence to support her version of the story Speaker Thank you the Premier Well again Mr Speaker I challenge much of the premise of the leader of the third party's question Mr Speaker I made a decision at the end of November having met our candidate having met Glen Tebow that he would be the best candidate for the Liberals in Sudbury Mr Speaker the people of Sudbury made a decision the people of Sudbury voted for Glen Tebow and we have a new member on this side of the house Mr Speaker because he was the best candidate for Sudbury the people in Sudbury made that decision Mr Speaker I know that's painful for the third party I understand the degree to which that's painful Mr Speaker but the fact is the people of Sudbury made a decision there's an investigation going on and that investigation is going on outside of this house Mr Speaker Speaker any Ontarian with a computer or a smart phone can hear the tapes of Pat Sorbera and Jerry Lawheed offering jobs to Andrew Olivier on behalf of this Premier the OPP warrant is available publicly Speaker Elections Ontario reported it's finding that there is evidence that there is evidence that senior Liberals broke the elections act and that report is publicly available Speaker and now Ontarians can read about a letter showing that the Premier did deploy her candidate until after she found out that she could not get Andrew Olivier out of the way but in that growing mountain of evidence there isn't a single shred that backs up the Premier's version of event Speaker is there anything at all anything Speaker that the Premier can show us that backs up her version of this rivalry scandal from Sudbury thank you very much Mr Speaker well as I said it was well known long before the paperwork was completed that Glen Tebow was going to be our candidate Mr Speaker it was a matter of public record and as I have said the investigation that's ongoing is happening outside of this house we need to let it unfold in an independent way outside of the legislature Mr Speaker thank you Premier seems to be more comfortable answering police questions and answering questions here in the legislature it's getting quite ridiculous people actually deserve so much better than this they deserve to know that I did not get quiet for you to interject member from Tim and James Bay please finish your question they deserve to know that their politicians play by the rule Speaker and they deserve to know that the Premier of Ontario is going to answer questions and tell the truth without first receiving a subpoena or a warrant or being interrogated by the OPP what evidence does the Premier have back up her story Speaker Mr Speaker I agree with the leader of the third party that the people of Ontario deserve to know that their politicians are going to answer questions Mr Speaker and I will do that I will answer questions here and Mr Speaker I will work with the authority I have said over and over again Mr Speaker first that I made a public statement I made it clear Mr Speaker when I had made the decision and what that decision was that Glen Tebow would be our candidate Mr Speaker I have also said that I will work with the authorities absolutely in every way that they ask of me that they require Mr Speaker but I will do that outside of this house because that's where the investigation is taking place that's where the authorities are not here they are outside of the house Mr Speaker Speaker my question is to the Premier Premier are you familiar with this following quote I can't fire them simply on the basis of charges they have to have their day they have to have a chance to prove their innocence I have got to see more than this Premier does this quote sound familiar do you know what this quote is in reference to Premier Mr Speaker hold up I am sure that the member opposite is going to tell me chapter and verse exactly where that quote comes from in the meantime I will say to him that I've been quite clear that I will cooperate with the authorities I've been quite clear that there's an investigation going on outside the house and I made a statement Mr Speaker about my position on all of that two Fridays ago and I continue to I continue to reinforce that in response to questions from the opposition Mr Speaker Premier I'm surprised you don't know who said that even I was surprised it wasn't you and it wasn't even your predecessor although I'm sure he had said similar things many times it was disgrace president Richard Nixon discussing how he justified his actions in the David Frost interviews Order please Order please Last time Order please The the member is tiptoeing very closely to a rope he doesn't want to hang himself with and I don't need any other interjections Please continue Back to the Premier That's agriculture It sounds Watergate It sounds very very much the same phrase that we've been hearing from you Premier you do know how that story unfolded isn't your intention to disgrace this legislature the same way that President Nixon disgraced his career and the White House when he served Thank you Thank you very much Speaker I asked the member opposite whether he recognizes the following two quotes I really don't have a comment to make on this because it's before the course that you recognize who said that it was just yesterday that the PC member from Whitby Oshawa actually made that quote and we agree with her that when it comes to matter of anything criminal we should let the independent authorities do the investigation let me ask you another quote whether you recognize that following quote stop interfering in an ongoing investigation and let it run its course who said that that's the opposition House member from Leeds Cradle said that quote as well Speaker Speaker we know that we have a system in place in this province where if there are investigations that are ongoing there are by legislation an independent process that is undertaken by prosecutors and by police we should respect that process let that independent investigation takes place as opposed to commenting it in the House Thank you Thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question is to the Premier needs to tell him Terrence why she's insisting that she decided to point her Sudbury candidate in November in December the Premier's top insiders were dangling jobs in front of Andrew Olivier to get him to stop seeking the Liberal nomination at that point Andrew Olivier said there was no discussion about no decision about appointing the President of the Liberal Writing Association said he hadn't heard anything about the decision to appoint he said the Premier didn't want to appoint and Pat Sabara made it clear that there was no decision to appoint now here's a letter from the Premier showing that she was here's a letter from the Premier showing that there was no decision about appointing until January 2015 why is the Premier insisting one thing when every single piece of evidence points to something else Community Safety Protection Services Thank you very much Speaker and again I think the Premier has answered the same question on several occasions but let me just provide the member opposite once again a primer on how our system works when it comes to issues like this when it comes to for example any potential violation of elections Ontario X Speaker as we know the Chief Election Officer has the authority to do an investigation when he does an investigation if there is an apparent he refers that matter then to the Attorney General for the public prosecutors to determine whether or not there should be any further action taken the public prosecutor then does his or her own investigation into the matter to decide based on evidence whether there should be any charges or not and if there are charges then it's up to our judges in the course to determine whether the person is guilty or not. Speaker that is entire process is arm's length independent we should respect the process Thank you supplementary Well my question is back to the Premier and Premier this province this legislature doesn't need any primer from Liberals about how to follow her break laws because clearly you guys don't have a very good track record So I say again Andrew Olivier Bill Nermey, Pat Sabera Jerry Lawheed the Premier's own letter says that they all say that no decision has been made about appointing the Premier's choice and candidate in December in fact evidence shows that the decision didn't come until January why has the Premier been insisting she made a decision in November Minister I think in the same way we don't need any primers from the NDP when it comes to bringing progressive policies in this province that makes a difference in people's life because that's the party which voted against increases for our hard working personal support workers this is the party opposite the third party speaker that voted against raising the wages for childcare workers speaker this is the party across that voted against to increase the minimum wage and indexing it to cost of living that is the party speaker that voted against increasing to the childcare benefit we don't need lectures from the third party which has forgotten this progressive roof this is the party and this is the leader that is helping with which is bringing progressive policies to improve the lives of Ontarians every single day speaker and we will continue to do that and make sure that there is time and income security for hard working Ontarians as well the member will withdraw the member from Scarborough Legion Court Ontario's first responders healthcare professionals including nurses transit workers and correctional officers have made it very clear Ontario needs to do more to address traumatic mental stress in the workplace recently I met with frontline nurses and physicians in my writing of Scarborough Agent Court they share with me many challenges like complexive care and diversity of industries that frontline health professional face every day in their practice this past year across Canada first responders and others have been urging the government to take action to address this growing concerns traumatic mental stress in the workplace we have all heard about tragic incidents including firefighters and police officer have taken their own lives because they have not been able to get the help they need we all agree we need to act to prevent this trend from continuing through you to the minister what is the province doing to ensure employers are providing support to the employees who are suffering from traumatic mental stress thank you to the member speaker for that very important and very timely question I think any of us in this house that have a friend a colleague or family member that is dealing with traumatic mental stress post-traumatic stress disorder understands the devastating effect this can have on people speaker and speaker I would agree we need to do everything we can as a legislature as a province to ensure that workers get the support they need when they are forced to deal with work related traumatic mental stress there's a growing amount of evidence speaker that highlights a benefit of preventive initiatives when it comes to dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder our government takes this work related TMS very very seriously we engage the round table of experts on traumatic mental stress we've already begun acting on their proposed actions tomorrow speaker we're holding a summit on work related traumatic mental stress right here in Toronto to build upon the work of that round table actually speaker that's going to attract some of the best and brightest on this on this topic to Toronto I'd urge all members to try and attend for a portion thank you Mr. Speaker thank you to the minister it appears that our government is positioning ourselves in the right side of this issue and ensure Ontario's workplace have the tools they need to address TMS I recently read that mental illness costs on Canadian economies $52 billion annually in lost productivity and it is the number one cost of disability claims in Canada among those most disproportionately affected are health problems are new Canadians and recent immigrants they face many cultural and linguistic barriers both in the workplace and in trying to find proper treatment Mr. Speaker my writing of Scarborough Asian Court that number of specialised agencies that serve the diverse community like the Hong folk nurse practitioner clinics so the discussion takes place tomorrow in the summits of work related traumatic mental stress will empower participants to better serve my constituents and all Interians Mr. Speaker through you to the minister you mentioned earlier about hosting the summits tomorrow can you please elaborate what will they look like and who will be participating Mr. Speaker thank you again for the question from the member the government is bringing together workers employers advocates educators change leaders and experts from a wide range of sectors at this summit tomorrow here in Toronto more than 150 invited representatives will share the innovative approaches they have promote cultural change they'll learn from other industry leaders on how they can enhance mental health and the safety of their own employees now Speaker one of the highlights of the summit will be the keynote address by that great humanitarian Lieutenant General the Honourable Romeo de Lerre he spoke his first-hand experience with traumatic mental stress and if anybody's been an outspoken advocate Speaker it's him the main goal of tomorrow's summit is to guard a conversation on traumatic mental stress that conversation's already begun instead it's about elevating that conversation to a higher level I look forward to being part of it I hope I see some of the members that I'm hearing from at that summit tomorrow please remember from the Honourable Speaker I have a question for the Premier about the Sudbury by-election Ontario's Chief Collector officer was very clear that he believed there was an apparent contravention of the bribery statute contained within the election act your Deputy Chief of Staff at Subara is accused of bribery your back room liberal officer Jerry Lahi is also involved in the alleged bribery it's illegal to grant government jobs or other positions as a favour Premier why have you not removed Jerry Lahi and Pat Subara let me just remind the member opposite I'm sure he just neglected to read this part of what the Chief Electoral Officer said and he said I am neither deciding to prosecute a matter nor determining anyone's guilt or innocence those decisions are respectively for prosecutors I take this matter very seriously I take this matter very seriously there is while you were heckling I indicated that I wanted you to come to order carry on I take this matter very seriously and as the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services has said there is a process that process is being undertaken at this moment but it's a process that takes place outside of this House Mr. Speaker that's where the investigation is taking place and that is exactly where it should take place back to the Premier in our society in the province of Ontario we all believe in the rule of law justice is blind no one is beyond it our rule of law is based on a set of strict principles to which we as a society all agree our rule of law is not arbitrary our rule of law is not subject to financial influence you your friends your hard operatives believe you are above the law the fact is if you break the law you pay the price we now have four OPP investigations into this alleged criminal activity and this reflects badly on everyone Premier for the good of all concerned and if charges are laying will you step aside Mr. Community Safety Protection Services Thank you very much and I really appreciate the member opposite talked about the rule of law because I wish his other members would recognize in our system of democracy what the rule of law means rule of law in our system creates a clear distinction between the exactive branch of the government and that of the judicial branch of the government by the same logic that the member opposite it is prohibited that the exactive branch gets involved in the judicial branch of the system that is the fundamental tenet of our rule of law we have a separate judicial process in place right now there are investigations that is ongoing and it is only the right and the legal thing to do is to respect those investigations and not to comment in this House Speaker so I urge all the members opposite let's get back to the issues that are important to Ontarian Speaker let's talk about issues that Ontarian is talking about like building good public infrastructure Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Premier made offers to Mr. Andrew Olivier the Premier is on record as saying that's okay because she had already decided to appoint her chosen candidate she was just helping Mr. Olivier but the evidence shows something completely different the evidence showed that the Liberals were desperate to get Mr. Olivier to withdraw from the nomination so that they could have an incontested nomination meeting and the letter to the President of the Sudbury Writing Association shows that there was never any decision until long after the attempts to get Andrew Olivier out of the nomination meeting had failed will the Premier tell Ontarian the date when she decided to appoint her chosen candidate thank you very much Mr. Speaker well I know that there are members in the third party who understand that we have that I have the authority and the ability as the as the Liberal leader to appoint candidates Mr. Speaker and I made a decision after I had met Glen Tebow I've been pressed the Deputy House Leader is warned finish I made a decision that Glen Tebow was the best person to be our candidate in Sudbury Mr. Speaker and I made that decision after I had met him at the end of November and there is an investigation going on it's going on outside of this House Mr. Speaker thank you supplementary Speaker the statement from the Premier has kind of her twisted in a knot whether she's trying to explain that really honestly and for real she had decided to appoint a candidate in November but she didn't tell anyone she didn't tell her campaign director she didn't tell our local king maker in Sudbury she didn't tell her candidate she didn't tell our former candidate for writing association president or the Liberal party whose constitution makes it clear that she had to do so is the Premier going to admit the date when she decided to bypass the nomination meeting and go for an appointment because right now it looks like it's January well Mr. Speaker let me say again and the member opposite actually lives quite close to where all this is taking place and I think that the member opposite could if she looks back at the newspapers Mr. Speaker and she would know that it was pretty common knowledge that Glen Tebow was going to be our candidate so to suggest that that wasn't the case Mr. Speaker I think is just not accurate so I had made a decision Mr. Speaker that Glen would be this candidate for us in Sudbury there is an investigation going on it's going on outside of this house and I will I'll continue to cooperate with authorities Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker My question is to the Minister of Economic Development and Primary and Infrastructure I've had the privilege of advocating on behalf of my community at the federal level and now I have the privilege to do the same at the provincial level this is a responsibility I take very seriously Mr. Speaker from knocking on doors in the past by-election my constituents clearly identified the Melly Drive extension as an important infrastructure project for our community I am now proud to say that I am part of a government that included this project not only in the past budget but as part of its submission to the federal Building Canada Fund so Mr. Speaker would the Minister of Economic Development Employment and Infrastructure please update this house about the important Sudbury infrastructure project Thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker it is so good almost refreshing to see a member from the Sudbury area asking questions that really matter to Sudbury it's with great pleasure Mr. Speaker that I can say and confirm that this government is fully committed to our share of the Melly Drive project we know that the project is very important to the people of Sudbury because it will reduce congestion along two of the city's main arterial roads in our 2014 budget our government committed up to $26.7 million for the first phase of the expansion of Melly Drive we highlighted this project again in our recent budget Mr. Speaker the NDP had an opportunity to vote for this project in the first budget they rejected it they had a second opportunity they rejected it again we're looking forward to hearing from the federal governments with an approval that Melly Drive can go through Thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker and I'd also like to thank the minister for driving this important project forward and I too remain optimistic that the federal government comes to the table and commits to this project however Mr. Speaker seeing first hand when I was a member of parliament the federal conservatives are not making adequate investments in infrastructure not just in Ontario but across the country they are short changing Ontarians and all Canadians Mr. Speaker fortunately this government and this premier prioritizes infrastructure Mr. Speaker our premier is calling for a new Canadian infrastructure partnership a collaboration that has the explicit target of investing 5% of GDP in infrastructure renewal so Mr. Speaker would the minister please inform the House about this drastic comparison between federal and provincial infrastructure spenders Thank you Mr. Speaker and the members absolutely right the federal government is not adequately investing in infrastructure since 2003 this government has invested nearly $100 billion in infrastructure and we are investing $130 billion in infrastructure over the next 10 years that will create 110,000 jobs across this province comparing our record to the federal government over the next 10 years our government plans to invest nearly 5 times more per capita in infrastructure than the federal government Mr. Speaker you'd be hard pressed to find a national government anywhere in the world doing so little compared to the provincial governments across this province our premier is absolutely right the federal government must commit more to a national infrastructure partnership projects like Mealy Drive The Ring of Fire Public Transit need the federal government to commit more so that we can continue to compete in this fiercely competitive department I just got hit here Remember from Renfrew and Nipissing Pembroke I'm glad to see your enthusiasm My question is for the premier Premier since the very beginnings of this Sudbury by elections Let's reboot Remember from Renfrew and Nipissing Pembroke Thank you Mr. Speaker Premier since the very beginnings of this Sudbury by election scandal many sad excuses for liberals behaving in unethical ways from the response in my writing and in fact from all across this great province I can tell you that Ontarians are saying that by your unwillingness to admit wrongdoing and dismiss those who are accused of criminal offences you are diminishing the high office you hold Later today our leader will address the house regarding his opposition to emotion will you finally accept responsibility for defending liberals under criminal investigation and acknowledge that if you will not have them step aside you are in fact breaching the public trust Deputy Premier Well Speaker I can assure the members opposite and anyone watching that we take this issue very very seriously we've heard the premier time and time again talk about how any investigation should be conducted by qualified people outside of this legislature in fact Speaker when asked about charges laid against a PC just as charges laid against a PC staff member just this week the PC member from Whitby Oshawa said I really don't have a comment to make on this because it's before the courts Speaker the PC House leader agrees with the members from Whitby Oshawa she said that to stop he said stop interfering in an ongoing investigation let it run its course so Speaker we actually take the wisdom from the members opposite he's discussing this in the House Thank you Speaker that was a sad and disappointing response from the Deputy Premier back to you during your leadership speech you said and I quote this is the time right now to show what we've learned from our mistakes that they will not happen again end quote by standing in the way of our opposition motion you will show that this is the same tired arrogant unethical liberal government that you inherited from Dalton McGinty you have put your own ego and the needs of your party before the needs of the people of Ontario Premier I ask you again will you acknowledge the breach of ethics and stop stonewalling our efforts to get to the bottom of the scandal and put Pat Sabara and Jerry Laheed in the penalty box at least until this investigation is complete Deputy Premier what I find to be very disappointing is that both opposition parties have for the last number of weeks asked the same question over and over and over again they have used their questions to do this month breaking instead of focusing on issues that matter now we have people from the credit unions here today speaker they've got important questions I think they'd like to be asking they'd like you to be asking us about questions that they're here to discuss speaker we've had various people here the children's treatment centers I bet they have questions that they'd like to be asking us you've asked the questions over and over again I think you're letting your constituents down by not asking the questions they want to hear answers thank you speaker my question this morning is for the Premier good morning Premier Speaker according to the evidence the Premier decided to appoint her handpicked candidate the same day that the writ was dropped if the Premier is claiming she decided to appoint her handpicked candidate in November why did she wait until the 11th hour to actually make that appointment so let's understand this question the member good morning the member is asking about why the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party didn't get the paperwork in when he thinks she ought to have done that now I think that's a pretty big stretch Speaker my colleague says a ridiculous question I wouldn't say it's a ridiculous question but it's not a question that pertains to government policy government business it's not a question I'll bet that the people in Windsor are wanting their members to ask Speaker it's not when I think what the Premier should have done why didn't the Premier follow the Liberal Constitution and inform the Liberal Party as soon as she made a decision to appoint a candidate it's in the constitution for God's sake Deputy Premier Speaker it's very clear that the nomination process in the NDP party or the New Democrat Party is not the same as it is in the Ontario Liberal Party in the Ontario Liberal Party because members of the party have voted constitutional rules that give the leader of the ability to appoint candidates the NDP just ran through the candidate they want they put someone in charge of the process and then that person Adam Gianbroni ends up running for that nomination I don't like your way of doing nominations but I'm not going to be stand up and ask you about your party constitution in this place Thank you. Good question Thank you Mr. Speaker My question is to the Minister of Finance Mr. Speaker I understand that today is Credit Union Advocacy Day We have members of Credit Union from across the province Park today and meeting with MPPs I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with members of Credit Union from my writing of New Market Aurora Meridian and telling me about the wonderful things they're doing in our writing they're telling us about the wonderful things they're doing in all of our writings Mr. Speaker it's unfortunate that the opposition are not asking questions about the good work the credit unions do and the important role they play Mr. Speaker through you to the Minister of Finance what is our government doing to support this critical industry Good question Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member for a great question the member from New Market Aurora has rightly cited how important the Credit Union in case popular are to the province of Ontario to their communities and to our economy we appreciate the outstanding work for all of us concerned and on behalf of all of my Liberal Caucus members and colleagues we recognize that in order for Credit Union to continue to do its good work we have to review its act and I'm very proud that our Parliamentary Assistant, Louder Albanese the MPP from York Southwest is doing a tremendous job of consulting with the communities right across Ontario in terms of what we should do to continue providing that investment those incentives for businesses to invest for consumers to build and create more jobs that wouldn't be possible without the outstanding partnership with our credit unions Thank you Mr. Speaker I would like to thank the Minister of Finance for that informative answer this review will assist Credit Union workers to continue to do their important work in building up Ontario's economy I know in my writing we value the work of Credit Unions I see the important contributions they make to my community day in and day out but Mr. Speaker can the Minister of Finance please provide some more information on this important review that he's requested of MPP Laura Albanese to lead Thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you again to the member Mr. Speaker there are over 118 Credit Unions in Ontario serving 1.6 million members employing over 6,000 people and holding over 40 billion dollars in assets they deserve to ensure that the government and partnership with them will do what's necessary for them to continue to succeed looking at deposit insurance coverage limits revisiting subsidiary ownership reviewing and adopting basal three capital requirements and inputs that they know is important enabling innovation so that we can all do better and ensuring that they are able to see the potential of our companies like the MUSH sector we hear you loud and clear they're not asking you those questions we will and will fight for you as well Mr. Speaker a reminder to all members that you're addressing your questions and answers to the chair and now that I have quite I'll say it again for those that didn't hear in this place you direct your questions and answers to the chair New question, a member from Snow Mountain Dundas and South Plain Gears. Thank you, Speaker. To the Premier, you did not inform the Sudbury Riding Association of your intentions to appoint a candidate for weeks, during which time your operatives, Pat Sabara and Jerry Lahi, allegedly tried to bribe your former candidate for an appointment, so that your liberal... Stop, stop. The Minister of Energy come to order, and everyone else. Please put your question. It's the time your liberal operatives, Pat Sabara and Jerry Lahi, allegedly tried to bribe your former candidate with a public appointment, so that your liberal nomination would go to your chosen candidate, Uncontested. You've reached your own party's constitution, and your operatives allegedly broke the law according to the chief electoral officer. However, you stated that after your review, you will likely be no charges. So when did you offer yourself the appointment as prosecutor, judge and jury? And when did you ask yourself what to give up in exchange for this? Question, thank you. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And again, I challenged the premise of some of the statements that the member opposite has made. I've been very clear that I will cooperate with the authorities. I take it very seriously. I made a statement that laid out my position, Mr. Speaker. And I have said very clearly that this is an investigation that needs to take place outside of the House. I've also said very clearly that when I met, when I first met Glenn, I made a decision that he would be the best candidate for us in Sudbury, Mr. Speaker. And I think that was a very good decision, born out by the fact that the people of Sudbury chose him as their representative here at Queen's Park, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, back to the Premier. Your office is subject to four OPP investigations. At this pace, investigators will need their own reserve parking spot at Queen's Park. Your own candidates still trust you to come clean and have released recorded tapes for the truth to come out. Andrew Olivier could not have been offered an appointment without your blessing, because you would have to sign off on it. It shouldn't take the police questioning and leak tapes to get to the truth to the Premier of Ontario. Did you decide to offer Andrew Olivier a public appointment in the time between your decision to appoint Glenn Tebow as a candidate and your letter to the Riding Association? You know, when I say that the investigation is taking place outside of this house, what I mean is that there will be questions asked and answered by authorities, by people who are qualified to ask those questions, Mr. Speaker, and then come to conclusion. I understand the politics of what's going on here. I understand why it's important to the Conservatives to ask these questions over and over, because they don't want to talk about what's going on in their leadership race. I understand that. I understand why the MPs said, Mr. Speaker, and that they lost them. But I distract from the reality that we have a lot of work to do on this side of the House, Mr. Speaker. We have work in terms of investments. We have work in terms of getting a budget ready that will be in the best interest of the people of the province. I'll answer the questions that the authorities are asking, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. New question. Member from Tomiskemee Park. Thank you, Speaker. My questions to the Premier. Seeing as the Premier is unable to produce any evidence to back up her timeline of events, my constituents are wondering if she can provide any evidence on who gave Pat Cerbera and Jerry Laheed their orders to offer Andrew Olivier a job. Premier. I go back to my previous answer, Mr. Speaker, that I will answer and I will cooperate with the authorities in the investigation that's taking place outside of this House. And I understand the politics of what the NDP is doing right here, Mr. Speaker. They don't want to talk about their own process. They don't want to talk about the painful reality that we put in place a progressive plan that drew an NDP member from the federal party into our party, Mr. Speaker, that put in place a plan for Sudbury and all parts of the province, Mr. Speaker, that are in the best interest of the economy and in the best interest of people in their day-to-day lives. They don't want to talk about that, Mr. Speaker, so they're taking on the role of judge and jury, Mr. Speaker, in terms of work that is being done outside of this House. The investigation is happening outside of this House. I will cooperate with authorities, Mr. Speaker. In the meantime, in the meantime, Mr. Speaker, I hope that the members of the opposite understand that that's the appropriate thing to do. Once again to the Premier, I guess, openness and transparency has turned into deflect, deflect, deflect. Every piece of evidence points toward bribery, but the Premier says, no, we're only trying to help out our friends. The Premier has been asked to provide evidence for her version of the story for more than two weeks. Let's try this once again. Is there any evidence for the Premier's version of events? Premier. Can you just say something? I guess, Mr. Speaker, the tactic of the NDP is to distract, distract, distract from the real issues that needs to be dealt with in this province. They're trying to distract, distract, distract from their visible record in electionary. They just can't catch a break. They can't win an election, Speaker, and they're bitter about that. Their party members are asking about that. So what they're doing, they're talking about every other issue possible to deflect from their own dismal electoral politics because they have foregone, Speaker, they've foregone their progressive values because, Speaker, we here in the Liberal Party and the government are working on things that are important to Ontarians like investing in our personal support workers, like investing in our childcare workers, like making sure that full-day kindergarten now, Speaker, is available to all four and five-year-olds across the province. And now, Speaker, we're working on the most important issue that is to ensure that there's retirement income security for hardworking Ontarians who do not have a workplace pension and investing in critical public infrastructure across the province so that our families can get to work. Thank you. Do you have a question? Remember from Halton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Children and Youth Services. Minister, staff and volunteers at children's treatment centres work hard to support children and youth with physical communication and developmental needs. Children's treatment centres give young people the skills to be independent and live a happy and healthy life. In my writing of Halton, Aaron Oak Kids is doing wonderful work. Aaron Oak Kids is Ontario's largest children's treatment centre with approximately 600 staff in 10 locations. They provide a comprehensive range of support services to more than 14,500 Ontario children and their families. In Halton, they have taken over 500 children off their wait list for core rehab services. That's 500 children who have received support in areas like autism services, occupational therapy or medical assistance. Through you, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain how you are working to help children's treatment centres do their work? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the member for raising this very important question. I was really hoping to get more questions today about children with special needs because the Ontario Association of Children's Rehab Services is here. Jennifer Churchill and the folks from that organisation who do fantastic work and I was hoping for more from the opposition. But having said that, I'm happy to get this question and I'm happy of course to acknowledge the new investments to reduce wait lists for core rehab services and assessments that brings my ministry's funding to $101.4 million for the year 2014-15. When I was parliamentary assistant two years ago, I travelled to province listening to families, listening to service providers, listening to researchers and they helped us shape and form the special needs strategy for us. It's a very important work, Speaker. And I'm just so happy the associations here and we'll be meeting with them later today. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My next question again through you is for the Minister of Children and Youth Services. Minister, I'm pleased to hear about how much our government is doing to improve funding for children's treatment centres such as Erin Oak Kids. This means a great deal to constituents in my writing, many of whom have expressed their appreciation of our government's commitment to improving the lives of children throughout the province. This support is invaluable to the children and their families who are working to meet the challenges of everyday life. Minister, can you tell me what is being achieved through our increased funding for children's treatment centres? Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Speaker. And thanks again to the member for the question. So late last year, my ministry invested in an additional $5 million per year, every year, Speaker, to help children's treatment centres reduce weight lists and core rehab services and time to get to that. I also invested $1.2 million this year to help the treatment centres further reduce time on the weight lists and time to get assessed. This has expanded access to physio, occupational therapy and speech language therapy. It's enabled children's treatment centres to serve an additional 2,000 children and youth across the province. Increased funding of almost $7 million over the next two years to increase school speech and language will help over 10,000 children across the province reduce weight time for speech and language. Thank you. We look forward to continued investments. Thank you. We see the place. New question, the member from Leeds, Grenville. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. But before, I hope you can give me some leeway Premier today. Speaker, today is my fifth anniversary of being elected as an MPP. As well, five years ago, the Minister of Energy was elected as well. And I want to congratulate him on the award that his ministry received today. They got a Canadian Taxpayer Federation Teddy Award for Government Waste for the smart meter program. Congratulations and happy anniversary. Premier, listen, we've got an Opposition Day motion today, Speaker. Premier, I think you can pre-empt it. I think we've asked these questions in the house. You've got a tremendous opportunity to do the right thing, to show some integrity in your office by asking Pat Sopara and Jerry Lawheed to step aside. Are you going to do it, Premier? Please do it before today's Opposition Day motion. Opposition Day motion. Thank you, Premier. Minister of Energy. Mr. Speaker, I'm very pleased that the member referred to smart meters. And I'm very pleased to speak about that issue, Mr. Speaker. We have one of the best electricity systems in the world, Mr. Speaker. And we were cutting edge when we installed 4.8 million smart meters in our system, Mr. Speaker. And enables us to do tremendous work. Mr. Speaker, first of all, smart meters eliminated about 2,000 jobs by not having to have people walk door-to-door to read meters, Mr. Speaker. We have a new generation. A generation of those people over there don't understand. They make jokes about smart meters, Mr. Speaker. Answer. Mr. Speaker, it's saving people money. Mr. Speaker, the... Well, I would challenge each member of the Conservative Party over there. Which one of you is not using... Thank you. Mr. Speaker, back to the Premier. Again, another answer that's not very smart in this legislature. Premier, you could really take this... Harder? This series. You and I have had a lot of questions over the last few days. We've got an unprecedented report from the Chief Electoral Officer. You've forced our hand today with our opposition-day motion. But Premier, you still have time. You still have an opportunity to do the right thing and show some integrity in your office. Remember, you're the one whose silent speech said in this House that you were going to do things differently. You were going to do things differently than your predecessor. But all we're seeing and hearing in question period day after day after day is the same old tired liberal rhetoric. Premier, do the right thing. Show the leadership that you said you would in this House. Ask those two individuals to step aside and try to renew some semblance of respect back in your office. Thank you. You seated, please. You seated, please. Minister of Energy. Mr. Speaker, referring to his reference to smart meters, Mr. Speaker, they alert utilities when lines go down, saving tremendous money for all the utilities across the province, Mr. Speaker. They redirect electricity to restore power averages, Mr. Speaker. They improve building accuracy, Mr. Speaker, and they enhance the efficiency of the system in many other ways, Mr. Speaker. The Hydro Toronto, Mr. Speaker, have confirmed that it has reduced consumption by 3%. There have been other studies that showed tremendous savings to consumers, Mr. Speaker. We're very, very proud of the technology. We're cutting edge, leading electricity systems across the world. We're copying what we're doing here in Ontario, Mr. Speaker. Deputy Premier, on a point of work. Speaker, I am delighted to welcome Harry Houston here today. Londoner from Libro Financial and a great citizen of London. Thank you. There being no deferred votes, this House stands for recess until 3 p.m. this afternoon.