 It is now time for Earl questions. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you so much, Speaker. My first question is to the Premier. Two months ago, on July 15th, the Minister of Health stood in this house and said, and I quote, I want to assure the leader of the official opposition that there is a detailed contingency plan in place for a second wave. Can the Premier tell us when we will see the detailed contingency plan, which supposedly has been ready for months? Deputy Premier and Minister of Health to reply. Well, I can certainly assure the leader of the official opposition speaker and everyone else in Ontario that the health and well-being and safety of Ontarians is our top priority and always has been. To be clear, we will say that the latest numbers, increased numbers have raised some concern. However, we are ready to deal with them. First of all, based on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, we have decided to cease the opening of any further businesses or any other organizations for the next 28 days or two incubation periods in order to be able to reassess and to take a pause to avoid having to return to broad-scale closures which nobody wants to see. If we have to, we will, but we don't want to. What I would say is that wave two of COVID is going to be more complicated than dealing with wave one. First of all, because we have flu season also approaching, we know that also results in increased hospitalizations. We also have an increase in numbers of people coming from long-term care homes back into hospitals to make sure that we can follow up on the infection prevention and control measures that we need to follow to continue their safety. We also have an increasing number of people that are requiring surgeries and procedures that were postponed from wave one that are dealing with capacity issues but I'll respond further to the member's question in my supplemental answer. Thank you very much. The supplementary question. Well, Speaker, I'm pleased that the minister actually acknowledged long-term care because the second wave is specifically concerning when it comes to seniors in long-term care. As new outbreak is underway, as folks might know, in the for-profit extended care west end villa in Ottawa where once again the private operators are telling families that they are facing staffing challenges as the numbers of infections in that home continue to rise and it's my understanding that that number now sits at 29 seniors in that home with COVID-19. In July, back in July, the government released a long-awaited study on the dire situation in staffing in long-term care homes. What has this government done, Speaker, to implement any of the recommendations that the report has put forward, especially now that the second wave is hitting our long-term care homes? We do have a comprehensive fall preparedness plan which will be released very shortly but it certainly does address the issue of health human resources. We know that there are issues that need to be dealt with there but it is a plan that is going to build on some of the successes that we've already seen. We know that we have developed a robust testing strategy, for example, which has allowed us to achieve over 25,000 tests, roughly per day. We're increasing that for the fall. We have had over 3 million Ontarians tested to date and we're going to continue to increase that number. We also have seen 148 dedicated assessment centres be created. We are going to build on that as well because we know there are areas where there are some wait times that are over the times that we would like to see because we want everyone to get tested that needs to be tested. But ultimately, at the end of the day, the most important thing that we can do is for all Ontarians, all 14.5 million of us, to continue to follow public health measures. To continue to make sure that people follow physical distancing, that they wear masks, where that's not possible, that they follow the hand hygiene and if they're not feeling well, please don't go to work. This is vitally important for all of us in the province and our plan is going to continue to build on that and all of the other health measures that we have in place, we're going to continue to emphasise them over the fall. Final supplementary. Well, Speaker, anybody that says the word success in the same sentence as long-term care has not got a check on reality in terms of what happened here in our province. It was a failure, a failure from the get-go. The government has a blueprint for change in hand apparently, but despite the Premier's promises of an iron ring around long-term care that the lessons were learned, they have not been learned. Change has still not come to the long-term care sector, Speaker. And once again, overburdened, underpaid staff in long-term care homes are scrambling to deal with new outbreaks. The Champlain Region Family Council Network recently wrote the province, asking, and I quote, Where is Ontario's plan? Have long-term care staff been recruited and trained to supplement the already overburdened and underpaid staff in Ontario homes? I'd say that's a pretty darn good question, Speaker. We saw the nightmare that happened over the first couple of months of COVID-19. We watched family members at beside themselves in tears, horrified by what was happening in long-term care. It took the Canadian Armed Forces to turn back that curtain and show Ontarians the failure of this government and previous governments when it comes to long-term care. And now the second wave is here, and the question is, where is the plan for long-term care? With the second wave coming, is there an actual plan? Can they answer the questions of this family network? Mr. Long-Term Care to reply. Thank you, Speaker. I promise if I did not acknowledge the very important work of our staff and our frontline workers in long-term care under a very challenging circumstance, never been seen in this world. And I would also be remiss if I did not acknowledge all of the homes in Ontario who have done very well. We need to acknowledge their success. We need to acknowledge where we have challenges and where we need to do better. We must not diminish the effort of all the people who are working so hard in the front lines, looking after our loved ones every single day. We are addressing them in an integrated way through Ministry of Long-Term Care, Ministry of Health, our Ontario Public Health, the Ottawa Public Health Unit. And I can say we're in regular contact to make sure that we're offering absolutely every piece of support that we can for our homes, including N95s. Evaluation of age. Thank you. Thank you very much. Leader of the Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. My next question is also to the Premier, but I have to say it's the efforts of the government that were failing people in long-term care. Not the efforts of the frontline workers, Speaker. The efforts of this government failed the people in long-term care and their family members. But it's not just long-term care, where the Conservatives are ignoring expert advice that could protect us in a second wave. Yesterday, health experts with the Hospital for Sick Children released findings of their study into classroom COVID safety. And what they found is alarming, Speaker. It is alarming, but it is not unexpected at all, or it shouldn't be. Among other findings, the experts conclude that it is, quote, not possible, not possible to maintain two-metre distance between students and accommodate more than 12 to 15 students in a typical classroom, even with the desks around the walls. Can the Premier explain why the government's back-to-school plan allows more than 15 students in a classroom knowing that this is not a safe way to go when experts are telling us it's not possible to follow social distancing guidelines with more than 15 students in a classroom? Mr. Vegetation, your reply. Well, thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member opposite for the question. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to confirm in every single school board in the province of Ontario, classroom sizes have been reduced. In every single school board without exception... Order. With every school without exception, we're seeing school boards work very hard to go well below the provincial average. Mr. Speaker, we're providing $200 million to hire over 2,000 new educators in a one-time expenditure to respond to this unprecedented challenge of COVID-19. In Toronto District School Board, for example, in those higher-risk communities, they are capped from kindergarten to grade 3 or 15. But between grade 4 and 8, they are capped at 20, well below the average, to ensure distancing, to ensure a stronger routine of hand hygiene, and yes, Speaker, to ensure that masking is in place. We're the only province to do so within the classroom. What SickKids calls for is a comprehensive suite of actions, a multitude of actions to prevent the risk that is what we've adopted, and we will continue to follow the advice of the Chief Medical Officer. The supplementary question. Speaker, this government actually told the school boards to try to find the money in their contingency funds to get school classes down to a smaller size. That is completely irresponsible. They didn't want to fund it. They don't believe in funding public services. They'd rather give their friends tax breaks, Speaker. But what I'm saying is that we have this similar problem now, not just in classrooms, but in school buses. We all know that. In Ottawa this morning, six more school bus routes were canceled on top of the 38 school bus routes that were canceled yesterday. This is a failure to protect our kids, and that failure ended up with 200 kids and families having to self-isolate after health experts feared that COVID-19 exposure was happening in the school buses. That's 200 family, Speaker, who have now had to scramble to figure out what to do, take time off work, socially isolate, make other arrangements. It's completely unacceptable. The number is only going to grow as outbreaks continue to spread like wildfire across our province. How does this government expect families to believe that they have a plan for the second wave when their current plan is actually unraveling before our eyes and exposing students, parents, and education workers to the virus? Mr. Speaker, it is this progressive concern of government that has allocated $4.3 billion to combat COVID-19 and increased health expenditure. It's this government that put $1.3 billion invested to ensure we can respond to keep our schools safe. In the context of social services, we are investing more to ensure that all families, all students remain safe as we respond to this unprecedented challenge. Speaker, in the context of busing, a billion dollars on an annual basis we're putting in place, but in addition to respond to this challenge, $40 million to increase cleaning, a signed seating of every bus in the province of Ontario, P.P. for all staff, training for all bus drivers, the Driver Retention Program, $40 million to incent them to participate and to stay as workers. We've provided that extension, Speaker, and $25 million for root protection in each and every area we lead this nation because we are fully committed to the protection of all staff and all students. And the final supplementary. Well, Speaker, I think what it is that the education minister just admitted is that their plan is failing. Their plan is failing because kids are getting sick and families are having to isolate. That's what's happening in reality. But you know, for months now, we've been telling this government, for months that without schools and without childcare, the everyday Ontarians who actually drive our province forward can't get to work and our entire economy, the entire economic recovery is going to actually be at risk because they have not done the right thing. The Premier keeps insisting that no expense is going to be spared or no expense has been spared, but students and their parents see crowded classrooms, Speaker, every day, cancelled bus routes and case counts that keep climbing. Why does the Premier have his head in the sand waiting for a second wave to hit instead of taking the action that he knows would help Ontarians? The action that he knows could stop the spread of COVID-19 in our schools, in our workplaces and buses, and everywhere else around the world. Thank you. That is an education. Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health only days ago put a four-week pause in this province to ensure that the children of this province come first. It's the Minister of Health who confirmed that a plan is forthcoming in the context of the second wave. It is this government that put $50 million to respond to influenza and other issues that will rise within our schools. $1.3 billion to the leader of the opposition. We are spending twice the rate of what the new Democrats are in British Columbia by any measurement. We are fully committed to the safety of our kids. Order. And in this province, as one of the members opposite wants to know more, we're doing what the other province are not. We are the only province speaker to have invested this level of funding and the only province speaker to have the most comprehensive masking protocol insisting in classrooms from grade four and not the only province dedicating more funding to student mental health. The only province in the Federation with a testing capacity for asymptomatic students in high school. And yes, we're the only province of finance and mandated health and safety treatment of every single educator and every single supply teacher. We will do whatever it takes to keep kids safe. The next question, the member for Nicobel. Thank you, Mr. President. My question is for the Prime Minister. The seat is getting more dire by the day. The hospital is presently operating at 104% capacity. Last week, they had to cancel every single elective surgery due to overcrowding. The government says that they have a plan to clear the surgical backlog, but what is clear is that they either do not have a plan or the plan is not working. Will the Premier commit today to providing additional training for children today to providing additional adequate funding to relieve the strain on Health Sciences North and help the people who are sick and in pain get the surgery that they desperately need? Minister Tell. We certainly understand and thank you very much for the question that there are capacity issues in many hospitals across Ontario, with Health Sciences North being one that's experiencing particular capacity problems. It is part of our fall preparedness plan that we want to make sure that hospitals are going to be able to expand their capacity particularly for critical care beds and for vented beds. We have made an investment in a significant increase in number of ventilators that are going to be available. We want to make sure that every hospital is going to be able to meet these challenges, that they have the supplies that have the space that they need that will be a significant part of our fall plan which is going to be released very shortly. Member for Nickel Belt supplementary. With no help and no plan in sight from the government the situation at Health Sciences North is only going to get worse. August and September are usually the quiet months at the hospital but fall and flu season is coming up quickly and a second wave of COVID would make things worse if not disastrous. The Premier and his Minister do not leave our hospital to cobble together a plan on their own or community or health care system needs their hospital to be functional and they needed to be able to withstand a surge in illness coming in the couple of months. Will the Premier and the Minister provide Sudbury health care system and Health Sciences North with the funding needed to end the overcrowding, catch up on the cancelled surgery due to COVID and withstand the increase in the fall surge. Minister of Health. Well, as they indicated earlier in a previous question that the response to wave 2 is going to be more difficult and challenging than the response to wave 1 for the very reasons that you've outlined we have thousands of surgeries and procedures that were postponed during wave 1 to create that capacity in our hospital system. We don't want people to have to wait any longer for those surgeries we know that they need them whether they're orthopedic surgeries, cancer surgeries, cataract surgeries, cardiac surgeries, whatever else that they need. So we want that to continue we know we need to create that extra capacity in our hospital system. We also know that flu season is coming forward. We're preparing for a very, very significant response to flu season to try and keep people out of hospitals. We also know that we have some people who have come back into hospital from long-term care because we need to create that capacity in the long-term care homes to create that to have that infection prevention and control and we know that there are a lot of hospitals that are waiting for that response. We are addressing that in our fall preparedness plan to allow hospitals to have that additional financial ability to create that capacity and that will be detailed in our fall plan which is going to be coming forward and released very soon so that Thank you. Thank you very much. Next question, the member for Peterborough Coortha. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Education. Speaker many people in my writing have spoken to me about the importance of access to child care spaces. I've been holding regular meetings with various child care operators in my writing where we discuss our common goals in providing the very best child care for families in Peterborough Coortha. I'd like to recognize some of the incredible leaders in child care especially over the last few months with the closure of the centers and then the subsequent reopenings. A special and heartfelt thank you to Anne Cathcart Andrews, Teresa Burke, Kathy Hamilton, Tanya Lund Dugan, Moira Revance, and Ashley Collins. I know that across the province child care centers and home care operators are doing a fantastic job. Can the Minister of Education please tell this legislature what our government is doing to support these incredible people and child care across the province? Minister of Education. Thank you very much, Speaker. I want to thank the member from Peterborough Coortha for his incredible leadership for the next generation for child care, for affordable child care in his community across our province. Speaker, I want to recognize our ECEs, our staff within our child care centers who have gone above and beyond from the beginning of this pandemic when our government opened child care for emergency workers to support our frontline women and men in this pandemic. We systematically expanded cohorts doing it methodically, listening to evidence and listening to the chief medical officer of health who permitted us to expand those cohorts, enabling more parents, more moms and dads to have reliable and safe access to child care in every region of this province. We also ensured child care remained affordable by denying operators from charging parents during that period for services not rendered. We took a consumer protection lens, a safety lens and ensured child care operators remain sustainable for decades to come, Speaker. And the supplementary question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Through you, I'd like to thank the minister for that fantastic answer. It is heartening to know our government is taking child care so seriously. Speaker, COVID-19 has brought challenges that no one could have imagined before the pandemic, including the temporary closure of a majority of child care centers across the province. But we as a province and the sector persevered. Centers are now operating with enhanced safety measures to protect staff, kids and families. Can the minister please tell this legislature why reopening child care centers is so important and expand on some of the safety measures our government has put in place? Minister of Education. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, we know how integral child care is to enabling parents and moms and dads to this province to return to the labor market. We also recognize that they want to return to work with confidence that their child can be safe. And that was the basis, Speaker, at the very beginning of this pandemic, we signaled and provided financial support, operating support to help backstop our operators that face unprecedented challenges of closure and rising costs. That's why, Speaker, we provide them with more operating dollars. That's why we provided them with training and PPE for all of their staff, Speaker. In addition, as of September 1, to align with the changes and the reopening of our schools, we will continue to create cohorts within our child care very safely while maintaining a very strict health and safety protocol to keep the staff and likewise our kids safe. We will continue to be there for our child care sector. We just announced that the federal government minister, Ahmed, who saved an additional 234 million dollars in restart funding to ensure that our child care operators are sustainable and that our parents have access to affordable child care in every region of Ontario. Next question, the member for Waterloo. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the acting Premier. Speaker, the economic crisis created by COVID-19 has led to a women's labour force participation falling to its lowest since 1990. Why? Because shutdowns and layoffs have had a larger impact on sectors that traditionally employ women. These businesses, led by women, tend to be newer, smaller, and less well-financed than those owned by men. And many women have been slower to return to the workforce with a double burden of working and caregiving. For example, employment among women with toddlers and school-aged children fell by 7% between February and May. The pandemic has been hardest on racialized Indigenous women, single parents, low-income women, newcomers and women with disabilities. It is unacceptable, Speaker, to leave whole sectors of our society behind. Is this government willing to acknowledge and address this she-session? The Associate Minister for Children and Women's Issues. We recognize that women have been disproportionately affected by this pandemic. Women in the hospitality and tourism industry, women in retail industry, that's why the opportunity to hold round-table consultations in my own writing and heard firsthand from women entrepreneurs such as Sarah Kitchen who owns a hair salon by Ashley who owns our local shop that I belong to and also by Nicole who owns Studio 11 retail clothing outlet in Aurelia and I commend these women for the amazing work that they have been doing during this pandemic, the creativity they have taken to putting their businesses online to offering delivery to households but that creativity is so important so we know that women have been disproportionately affected and we will continue to work amongst all sectors to hear firsthand from women business owners what we can be doing to support them through the pandemic. The supplementary question. Women don't need a round-table they don't need more consultation they need affordable accessible childcare. The 19 crisis has turned the clock back 30 years on women's economic rights 30 years. The stats Statistics Canada Labour Force survey has shown us the data of this she-session. The Canadian and Ontario Chambers of Commerce have produced reports on next steps without immediate policy action. Economists predict that Ontario will head into a prolonged recession. We need to be proactive now to prevent bigger issues down the road. There will be no economic recovery in the province of Ontario without a she recovery and we should all know this. So to the government where is the plan to increase women's participation in the workforce in the province of Ontario? The Associate Minister. Thank you Mr Speaker and thank you to the member for your supplementary question. We know that women are overrepresented in precarious work and low-income positions such as retail, hospitality and tourism but we also know that women are underrepresented in positions such as skilled trades where only 4.5% of workers are women in the STEM sector where only 23% are women. These are high paying good jobs that lead to long-term security. That's why this government is offering $37 million to support 15,000 workers. We know there's an opportunity here to put women into these jobs where we know right now there's thousands of jobs that are left open. These are good paying jobs and this government is working with the private sector to move women and give them the opportunity to work in the skilled trades and to get this economy moving and to the infrastructure that is happening in this province. Thank you. The next question is from Ottawa Vanie. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is for the minister of long-term care. Last week I held a forum with experts and residents across Ontario and from my riding in Ottawa Vanie on their concerns for our long-term care system. We heard from leading experts in long-term care reform and from workers that have seen the effect of COVID-19 on the ground in these homes. One piece of feedback was clear across the board. The system needs fundamental changes to ensure long-term care homes are safe, secure and supportive places for residents. From training and employing more nurse practitioners and PSWs and homes to revising building standards there are many ways that we can improve the system to better equip long-term care homes for the realities they face. After a lifetime of hard work our seniors deserve to be cared for safely and with dignity. How has the ministry committed to fixing systemic issues in long-term care to better protect our provinces seniors? Minister of long-term care. Thank you very much for that question and thank you so much for raising this issue. It is an issue that all of us in society have an obligation to address and our government is fully committed to our seniors to our long-term care system reform. That's why a new ministry was created in the summer of 2019 to address the capacity issues that had languished for so many years to address the staffing issues and we started right away as soon as we became a ministry to do that and we are continuing not only to deal with the COVID fallout but to continue to modernise long-term care so we're doing this in parallel and it is a daunting, challenging task but looking at how we have the expert panel on staffing to inform a comprehensive staffing strategy, a modernised funding model to adjust the capacity issues, the integration with our hospitals so that we have a higher level of medical expertise for the complexity of our most frail and most vulnerable people. This is ongoing and I'm committed our government is committed and thank you for caring. Supplementary question. Thank you again Mr. Speaker and again to the minister of long-term care. As a follow-up you understand the ministry has a lot of responsibility that they need to meet but as Ontario experiences and uptick in daily COVID-19 cases we are already beginning to see a resurgence of COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care homes. In Ottawa alone there are currently 11 long-term care homes that are battling outbreaks again. Having seen the devastating effects of the first wave in our provinces homes it is critical that we use every available moment to improve long-term care to protect the safety of our provinces seniors in the wake of a likely second wave. What is the minister doing to prepare long-term care homes to safely weather a second wave of COVID-19? Minister of long-term care. Thank you Speaker and thank you once again and I want to make sure that everyone understands that in long-term care an outbreak means one person who is tested positive and that could be a staff member who is self-isolating at home. There could be absolutely no cases in the home itself and in that is the case right now in the outbreaks that we have in Ontario and Ontario. There are a couple of homes that are struggling and that is exactly where our attention is focused to improve the IPAC to make sure the staffing is stable to provide the support for the home whether it is through the $248 million that has gone out the door to address the surge capacity staffing making sure that there is additional measures for infection control and again integrating with our medical system working with our Ontario public health units making sure our medical officers of health are in contact with us that we know exactly what is happening in those homes and giving them the support that they need. This is ongoing and we will continue to do that. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is for the Minister of Energy Northern Development Mines and Minister of Indigenous Affairs. We know that Ontario is a leading jurisdiction in mineral exploration and production. Over my years as an MPP I have had the pleasure of visiting a number of mines and seeing the impact they have on local economies. Ontario's mining sector supports 71,000 jobs in mine production and processing, mineral exploration and mining supplies and services. Can the Minister share with this House the significance of last week's groundbreaking announcement at the new Cotay Gold to the local and provincial economy? Good enough. Minister of Energy Northern Development Mines. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd be pleased to and I want to thank the member for Perry Salmos Goka for his incredible work not just in his constituency but for our plans for Northern Ontario moving forward in economic COVID recovery. Mr. Speaker, let's just throw out a couple of numbers. On a beautiful day in Gogama, blue sky, 7 million ounces of high-grade gold sitting in the ground beneath together with the folks from Gogama flying close First Nation, Metogamy First Nation and others realized an incredible opportunity, Mr. Speaker. Over the course of this lifetime we're looking at $5 billion in wages for local workers. $10 billion, Mr. Speaker, to the province of Ontario's gross domestic product and that's in the first 18 years. There's an incredible opportunity for this to go more than 30 years. Mr. Speaker, 1,000 people got the call this week and next. They got the job to help build that line and 450 people will work long term at that site. We're so proud of Kote Gold and the local communities for their work on this project. And the supplementary question. And thank you to the minister for that answer for leading the development of this project that will bring prosperity and employ so many in Northern Ontario. Can the minister please share the specific ways we've been able to implement this and several other mining projects in Ontario in the past two years? Minister Vanity, Mr. Speaker, it's true that about 18 months ago this project had a high prospect of being shoved bogged down in red tape and legislation from the previous government, this mining site, like other mining sites across Northern Ontario weren't going anywhere, Mr. Speaker. Unfortunately this project had in common with the sugar zone, the premier and I visited it, how sweet it was, Mr. Speaker, to see that line go live and as well to see the Newmont Gold Corp's board in mind completely electrified what they had in common, Mr. Speaker was a frustration of a decade and a half of red tape, Mr. Speaker bogged down in not letting these projects go forward. I think it's pretty safe to say in the past couple of years, Mr. Speaker, that this project has moved mining operations to critical milestones, yet people to work in communities across Northern Ontario, despite the fact that the NDP and Liberals consistently, Mr. Speaker, voted for legislation to stall or... Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the acting premier. Parents in my community are so worried about the conservatives bargain basement education plan that over 10,000 students moved from the classroom by their parents. So many families changed their minds that the school board had to delay the start of school. But who could blame them, Mr. Speaker? Case counts are going up, but we still don't have access to enough testing and the government isn't doing a thing to keep the families safe. But the conservatives failure, the plan now means thousands of families are scrambling to rearrange work schedules and childcare arrangements so they can send their children to school online. What does the premier have to say to the thousands of families in my writing of Brampton, Brampton North, in Peel region who have been hurt by this government's decision to save money on the backs of our kids and teachers? Mr. Speaker, under our government's leadership and under the premier's leadership in Peel district school board alone $64 million in additional funding to hire more educators to space out these classrooms to ensure air ventilation, HVAC capacity is improved and to hire more custodians and cleanings. That just is a matter of fact provided by yes, reserve funding, federal funding and of course the province stepping up significantly to respond to this unprecedented challenge. In Peel district school board where I met with the associate medical officer, I met with the associate medical officer and she said we are in a capacity of public health nurses 64 more nurses hired in that region, living critical supports for families in Brampton, in Caledon, in Mississauga and all regions of Peel. We are absolutely committed to those families. We are committed to expanding testing to putting a four week pause on any future expansions. We have set aside $50 million to deal with influenza. We have set aside $50 million to deal with the coronavirus spread center for the virus. As case council in our community continue to rise and the likelihood of a second wave gets closer, it is not just the parents in Peel who are going to be pulling their kids out of school. Just yesterday the Toronto district school board announced they had to delay the start of online classes after their numbers of kids were dropped. Parents, students, teachers and schools in Brampton and across this province are all paying the price because the Conservatives failed to do the right thing. Highermore teachers cap classroom sizes at 15 kids and invest in safe schools every day families are begging for. Mr. Speaker, why doesn't the government think that these schools are doing everything they can to keep Ontarians safe? Mr. Speaker, the safe reopening plan that has been brought forth for the schools and for the people of Ontario has been fully supported and endorsed by the chief medical officer of health of this province. The senior most authority that has ably guided our province through the worst of this pandemic, what is the best way to prevent the spread in our class? That is the basis for hiring 2,000 more educators, $200 million to achieve that in every board. We are seeing that in peel and likewise in Toronto. In those communities at risk there is an absolute cap and pose of 15 between kindergarten and grade 3. Let me just re-emphasise that between grade 4 and grade 8 an absolute cap of 20 and 15 in high school. We are doing everything possible to keep kids safe. Order. The next question. My question is to the minister of education. Pre-eliminary results from the classroom stimulation study run by the sick kids hospital could not be clearer. They found that it was not possible to maintain a 2 distance between students and accommodate more than 12 to 15 students in the classes. Even when desks were put against the four walls. Now back on June 19th the minister actually agreed that during a COVID-19 press conference he told Ontarians that classroom sizes and I quote would be no more than 15 students. Speaker, through you to the minister, what has changed? Minister of education. Thank you speaker, let me just repeat what Dr Williams, the chief mental officer of health responded when that question was raised. We were only doing about less than 10,000 tests a day. Our percent of positivity was then well over 4 to 5 percent so we were looking at that. We saw in the migration of everybody coming back from March break we became aware of that. In fact even though we were told originally that there was no evidence of COVID-19, there was no evidence of that. There was a great concern about the amount of spread. Our numbers rapidly moved as you noted the numbers you said we were going up by over 100 percent every other day to three to four days from 20 to 60 to 150 and then the week after you noted we were around the corner of 350 and we were right up to 600 fairly soon after. Clearly speaker, there have been changes in the risk profile. We have been doing this to ensure that all kids remain safe in this province. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Last week I met with a bunch of parents from Don Mills Middle School and they were worried because their grade 7-8 classes were at 36. Thankfully an extra teacher which the minister keeps talking about all this money, they got an extra teacher and the classroom sizes have fallen to just below 30. So speaker, the government's plan is flawed. The minister has said that we have the best science backing our plan. The hospital for sick children is at the forefront of children health sciences. Speaker, through you to the minister, in light of the preliminary results of this study, will the government re-examine their plan, take expert advice and reduce class sizes, 29 students even with high funding is way too high. Thank you and thank you to member officer for the question. I think we have demonstrated by setting aside 50 million additional dollars to respond to influenza and the second wave we are clearly underscoring our commitment to continue to scale up, invest more and do everything humanly possible including a $360 million allocation as of January of 2021 further funding to do what the member wants to do with the reason why boards in this province are hiring over 2000 educators is because we provided a significant infusion a one-time investment of 1.3 billion supported by the feds and of course board resources. We have put investments in place for hiring of new educators, for more distancing, for more custodial staff for expanding testing in every area we lead in the nation and will continue to demonstrate to parents as this risk and as this challenge will continue to do whatever it takes to keep our kids safe. Next question Thank you my question is to solicitor general last month the solicitor general made an exciting announcement when it comes to the province's correctional system in eastern Ontario the announcement included a new jail to be built in Kemple next to my riding as well as rebuilding the Brockville jail and improving the St. Lawrence Valley treatment center these are significant project speaker and I know that they will make an impact on the ongoing issues facing the correctional system but it's important that that part of the design and construction of such large infrastructure projects input and consultation from all community partners and stakeholders be given consideration. To that end can the solicitor general explain what consultations will go on into these projects and how their feedback will be incorporated into these projects. Thank you and thank you to the member from South Dunnus and South Glen Gary for the question it was a real pleasure for me to be able to join my colleagues Minister Fullerton, Minister Clark the member from Carlton and the member from Ottawa West Nippian you got to keep listening I was pleased to join many local leaders in eastern Ontario to announce our correction strategy and the member is absolutely right input from our partners is so incredibly important for the success of these projects and he knows that very well as a former mayor himself that includes municipal leadership our front line correctional officers and justice sector partners and the wider community across eastern Ontario as our partners at opposite corrections division indicated this investment will go a long way to ensuring professional service delivery across eastern Ontario and these projects will move through the design process we will be hosting engagement sessions that are critically important to make sure that we get this infrastructure right. Thank you. And the supplementary question. Thank you speaker and through you thank you to the solicitor general for the response I'm sure that members of my community are looking forward to engaging in the consultation process as these projects move from concept to reality however the physical buildings are well important only one aspect that goes into addressing the issues faced in the correctional system. I understand the solicitor general announced an increase in staffing within the correctional facilities that would support the front line correctional officers and keep those within provincial corrections safe so can the solicitor general provide an update on this announcement and explain how it ties into eastern Ontario. Thank you so much absolutely right you know the facilities are critical but frankly so are the staff resources which is why I was so pleased when premier Ford and I had the opportunity to announce $500 million the hiring of 500 additional correction staff these are the people who are going to provide the services that keep our community safe and it's a major infrastructure investment in infrastructure as well as staff resources it will also help to modernize outdated facilities to support programming within our institutions our investment in people and infrastructure combined with our critical investments across eastern region will help create a better safer environment for staff and all those in Ontario's correction systems. Member for Beaches East York Speaker my question is for the premier school starts today for many students in Beaches East York parents and teachers have been reaching out to me over social media email the phone every way they possibly can they're anxious stressed panicking one mom wrote I'm a mother terrified for her kids I haven't slept properly in months a teacher shared that in her school every grade has kids over the cap the kindergarten classes are set of 30 students in them in yet another school the grade 7 class has 27 kids in yet another it is 34 bigger than before the pandemic teachers have shown me pictures of the desks in their classes there's barely room for an adult to walk between them parents know that sick kids and other health experts insist that physical distancing is impossible with more than 12 or 15 students the premier doesn't appear to be listening to health experts or parents who is he listening to and why isn't the government ensuring that all classes without exception are capped at 15 Minister of Education well speaker we have full conference the chief medical officer of health of this province who's given his endorsement for our plan and speaker the reason why he has done so is because we have followed the advice of the medical community to make sure that schools are constantly cleaned on a more active and regular basis we have improved air ventilation in our oldest schools $1.4 billion annually allocated an additional $50 million for air HVAC systems we've ensured cohorting and the seguring of class we've ensured buses and schools start to different times mitigating the spread of those cohorts we have the smallest direct and indirect number of students that could interact amongst the major province BC's at 120 and Ontario is actually at 100 speaker we put $1.3 billion of investment in all schools in all school boards we're seeing classrooms come down I know there's more work to do that our boards are undertaking in real time once those numbers are known we have faith in our boards we have faith in our students speaker supplementary question thank you speaker one mom wrote to me that she recently learned that her son's grade class will have 29 students and could have more by the time classes resume this is totally unacceptable that's her quote she would love the premier to spend a week in her child's poorly ventilated classroom where kids will be unable to socially distance by even one meter parents know that the government's funding formula forces schools to collapse classes as kids leave for remote learning which means that packed classrooms sit right next to empty ones and her mom is apoplectic that her kids grade 7 class is 25% bigger than it was before the pandemic as one mother said I cannot tell you how stressful and traumatizing this is for families speaker why hasn't the premier fixed the funding formula that keeps classes dangerously high when health professionals are saying they need to be capped at 15 missus speaker we have located over $1.3 billion in net new one-time investment to respond to COVID-19 to maintain our schools in Toronto district school board in communities where the member represents in communities that have higher risk of transmission working with the local public health officer including local public health the chief medical officer as well as the COVID-19 command table identifying speaker those higher risk communities there are absolute caps imposed from grade 15 from kindergarten to grade 3 20 from grade 4 to 8 and as the member opposite knows in high school it is capped at 15 students in all designated boards in peel in Durham and likewise in Toronto we have done everything we can to mitigate the spread in their schools but we recognize that the minister of health has said we have to reduce community transmission risk in order to protect our schools we recognize the relationship between the two citizens to continue to do their part to help us find the curve in this problem speaker next question the member for Eglinton Lawrence thank you speaker my question is for the minister of labour training and skills development during the pandemic many people in Ontario have experienced job loss or significant reduction in their work and I certainly hear from my constituents in Eglinton Lawrence that COVID-19 has impacted them greatly and although jobs are coming back and every new and returning job represents good news for a worker and their family there is still a high level of unemployment can the minister explain what our government is doing to help Ontario economically recover from COVID-19 minister of labour training and skills development well thank you very much mr speaker and I want to thank the member from Eglinton Lawrence for that very very important question this morning through you mr speaker as we have seen throughout the pandemic our government remains committed to supporting the people the workers and the businesses right across the province mr speaker just one example of this commitment is when I joined the premier and the minister of economic development job creation and trade at ABC Technologies in Etobico to announce 9.3 million dollars for 11 GTA based projects mr. Speaker I'm proud to say that this strategic investment will help thousands of people prepare for auto and advanced manufacturing careers the training projects range from hands-on learning opportunities for students in co-op or internship settings to short duration high quality college courses that help laid off workers learn to operate high tech machines or gain credentials for good jobs in the automotive or advanced manufacturing sector thank you thank you minister it's great to hear that Ontario is helping young people to and workers to receive the skills and training that they need to join our modern workforce and contribute to the recovery of the province mr. Speaker we need to make Ontario open for business again and there will continue to be a great demand for workers in these skill trades which are challenging exciting and often very well-paid careers could the minister please explain to the house what specific skills this funding will help to train people in thank you and I thank the member again for this question this morning mr. Speaker I'm proud to say that 2,300 students, apprentices and laid off workers will benefit from this 9.3 million budget investment as the member stated automotive and advanced manufacturing are critical and crucial to getting Ontario's economy back on track there are jobs available in these sectors today we are helping people upgrade their skills so they can access them we are creating a talent pipeline that satisfies employers needs mr. Speaker our government has worked closely with labour and employers to help bridge the skills gap in Ontario to get a good job and thrive the next question the member for Niagara Falls thank you mr. Speaker my question is to the premier this pandemic has blown the lid off the crisis in long-term care system there is also a crisis in home care system too and people aren't getting the help they need I want to tell you about Joe who is 84 and a long time St. David's Lions volunteer his wife Margaret is 78 has advanced dementia and needs home care Joe has been his sole caregiver for three years and wants to continue to care for her at home because he loves her dearly but he can't because he needs to recover from his own major surgery because of the lack of funding and home care from the government Margaret is going to have to leave her home the last thing that Margaret wants to do and Joe wants to do is leave her home question he wants to take care of her Speaker why can't seniors in this province access the care they need to stay in their own homes Minister of Health well as a matter of fact we're certainly aware of that issue that is one of the reasons why we are bringing forward the transformation of our health care system to allow people to be more connected with health care every step along their health care journey we know that there are issues related to people being discharged from hospital for example they need home care when they get home often by the time they get home they don't know who is providing the home care for what duration and they have multiple caregivers coming and going that cannot continue that is not patient centered care that's not good quality care that is why we're doing the transformation to bring forward the local Ontario health teams to help connect that care for people so that the hospital and they have the home care they will know before they leave the hospital who will be providing the care what care will be provided and for what duration that is good quality care and that is what we are moving towards in Ontario back to the premier let's be clear it's because of this conservative government's underfunding of home care that this family has to make a tough decision to move Margaret out of her home into long term care we've had close to 2,000 deaths with COVID-19 unfortunately there's a wait list of up to 3 years for a bed in certain homes in our community Mr. Speaker this is unacceptable seniors in our community should get the care they need when and where they need it whether that's at home or in a long term care facility or in a retirement home this situation is a definition of a crisis why does the premier do nothing while Margaret can't get sufficient home care and may have to wait 3 years to get a bed in long term care I can certainly agree with you speaking through you Mr. Speaker to the member that seniors deserve to get the care that they need when they need it and where they need it that's why we're making this transformation that's why we're connecting people to the health care system whether they're in hospital whether they're in home care or whether they're in long term care that's the point of the transformation that we're bringing forward we want people to get that care the one issue that I cannot agree with you with again through you Mr. Speaker is the investments we have made significant investments in home and community care significant investments in long term care and significant investments in hospital care these are bearing the foundation for the future that is why we're doing the transformation and we are making those investments where they live in the province will have access to that care that they need that is the goal of this government and that's what we're providing for the next question the member for Glambril Glambril Thank you Mr. Speaker and my question is to the Minister of Infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic inquiries from my constituents about their poor and unreliable broadband service have been pouring into my office evidently too many people in our province lack reliable internet cellular access or don't have any connectivity at all I was excited to see our government step up and make a commitment of $315 million to projects that will improve connectivity for people and businesses alike and I'm excited about the new opportunities the $150 million funding program called ICON could bring yet Minister we often hear you say that you know this funding isn't enough and that there is more work to do especially more support from the federal government would you please tell us exactly what it will take to close the digital divide Minister of Infrastructure Well thank you to the member for Glambril Glambril for her advocacy for her constituents especially on this issue and let me begin by explaining that broadband is a federally regulated sector its agency the CRTC is responsible for establishing countrywide standards and rates for internet and cellular connectivity as the premier said yesterday its estimated that it will cost between $10 and $15 billion to get Ontario up to speed that's why we are calling on the federal government to do its part and properly fund broadband the federal minister of rural economic development has promised the sector a nearly $1.7 billion funding program under the universal broadband fund and yet not a cent has flowed to our province so frankly Ontario can't wait the digital divide is widening we know our government has an important part to play but we need other partners especially the federal government to lend their investments and their expertise thank you and the supplementary thank you Mr. Speaker and back to the minister I received an email from Kim in Watertown that concerns about reliable broadband and it reads I'm sure you have received many emails in regards to this issue I live in Watertown and I have horrible internet for example I was trying to download your website it took 8 minutes my download speed is 0.54 megabits per second and 0.01 megabits per second upload speed and we pay $179 a month for this I work from home and because of that I may not be able to go back to work till possibly December it's very frustrating not being able to have this service when a lot of people rely on it minister when might people like Kim in Watertown be able to have reliable high speed minister will reply well thank you to the member for sharing Kim's comments with me I want to say to Kim I understand where you're coming from I live in a rural area and I have the same difficulties to echo the Premier's recent comments no infrastructure project is more important to the people of Ontario than broadband that is why we have a plan in June I unveiled our newest $150 million funding program called Improving Connectivity for Ontario or ICON and we launched the application which closed on August this year this is just one of the steps we're taking to deliver broadband to more people across Ontario and while I'm proud that our government has stepped up and delivered $315 million in funding is simply not enough to bring everyone in Ontario up to speed we can't do it alone that's why we're calling on the federal government to give Ontario its fair share in broadband funding and I hope that in a year or so Kim will have better questions next question thank you very much my question is for the acting Premier for months essential workers across Ontario waited for this government to slowly deliver the pandemic pay it promised in Hamilton we still hear from essential workers who haven't received a penny workers at Victoria Manor Kathmar Manor Roslyn Retirement Homes bravely cared for seniors even while facing some of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the province and while working under notoriously bad owners and management these frontline workers are heroes who worked tirelessly to ensure that seniors get the care they need yet still this government allows them to keep their licenses to operate I say bad business we have these frontline workers in our community why haven't they received their pandemic pay and why has the Premier let these workers down President of the Treasury Board to reply thank you Mr. Speaker it's great to see all our colleagues back in the house and everyone's safe so Mr. Speaker thank you for the member opposite through you for that question the support of our frontline workers through the pandemic pay was an absolutely essential tool throughout this pandemic Mr. Speaker we partnered with the federal government to deliver over $1.5 billion over 375,000 people over 2,000 employers the largest program in all of Canada and Mr. Speaker virtually everyone has been paid Mr. Speaker so we'll continue to support frontline workers who've worked hard throughout this pandemic to make sure all Ontarians are safe that concludes our question period for this morning there being no further business this morning this house stands in recess until 3pm