 It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the member for Tomiskaming Cochran. Thank you, Speaker. My question to the Premier. In the face of rising COVID cases and a new variant, which we know very little about, yesterday the Premier and the Minister of Health both refused to acknowledge or announce whether or not they would extend vaccine certificates. And vaccine certificates are a very important tool, especially for small business and for restaurants. No one's been hit harder by COVID than small business and restaurants. No one's been hit harder by the uncertainty of what the rules are going to be and the changing rules day by day. So we don't understand why the reluctance to just say and with the new information, we're going to extend the vaccine certificate program regardless of what the Premier said a few weeks ago. If you apply, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Thank you very much, Speaker. And thank you to the member opposite for the question. We did introduce a plan to reopen Ontario a month or so ago, and we indicated definite timelines for the reopening, timelines where we would be able to relax certain features to allow for people to be able to return to more or less the life they used to live. It was very firm and very clear from the beginning that Dr. Moore indicated that if there is a change in circumstances, if there is a variant that is going to cause a significant rise in cases, then we will have to reassess the situation. That is the situation that we are in right now because we don't know enough yet about Omicron to be able to make those determinations. What we do know that we have to do is to continue on the path of vaccination. We have lowered the age guidelines for people to receive the third dose. We are now giving shots to children age 5 to 11. We've now got 22.1% of that age category covered. That is what we need to continue to do is make sure that everyone possible that can have the vaccination, receives the vaccination and continue following the public health measures as we have since the beginning of this pandemic. The supplementary question. I'd like to thank the Minister of Health for that answer. It seems we have the inside answer and the outside answer because when the Premier announced that the masks were, the vaccine certificates were coming off January 17th, we didn't hear any caveats. That's happening. Be happy. And that's what we heard. And for Nipissing Pembroke, we'll withdraw. Member for Timskman Cochrane has the floor. Thank you, Speaker. And the mixed messaging is part of the problem. So when people who are vaccine hesitant here on the radio that you won't need a certificate after the 17th, the impetus to get vaccinated, it lessens exactly opposite message of what you're trying to convey here, Minister. Why? Why don't you just say in light of the new information, we're going to extend the certificates, give small business some certainty. Minister of Health. Thank you. Well, in fact, there has been no mixed messaging. The message has been clear from the beginning with the plan that was released to reopen Ontario in stages with guidelines and with timelines. It was always made clear by our government, by Dr. Moore, by everyone involved based on the science, based on the clinical evidence, that obviously if there was a change in circumstances, if there was another variant they came in that was going to cause an increase in hospitalizations, that it was going to be extremely transmissible, virulent, and cause people to perhaps not be vaccine useful, that we would have to change courses. Right now, we are awaiting further information on all of those issues to be able to understand what guidance we can then offer the people of Ontario, but it's only reasonable to expect that we need to wait to obtain that information from South Africa and from scientists around the world, that we then make a determination based on that evidence when we have it. Final supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. I would say that having the Premier say he doesn't believe in a split society is very much mixed messaging. But what happened to the precautionary principle where you say, okay, so things are changing and we've got a system that works, be prepared that it's going to be extended as opposed to here's the hard date where we're thinking about getting rid of it. And this isn't months, this is weeks, it's the short term decision making that has hurt the restaurant sector and the service sector throughout this pandemic. Open the patios, close the patios. Why don't you give them the advance notice that they need, use the precautionary principle and say today we're going to extend the vaccine certificate program. I allow the Minister of Health to reply now. Our government has always made every effort to give as much advance notice as possible to businesses as to whether they need to remain closed, when they can start reopening and under what circumstances. But right now, we don't have the information that we need. We want to be fair to the people of Ontario, we want to be clear and transparent with the people of Ontario. We've said already that we do not have the information yet. No one in the world does. Ontario is no different. We are waiting to find out about the transmissibility, the virulence and the effect of this variant vis-a-vis our vaccines. We need to have this information. That is being fair and reasonable. And I anticipate that the people of Ontario will understand that knowing that no one in the world knows how this is going to turn out. But once we do know, we will be giving people sufficient information in order to understand what we need to be able to do. It's not trust us, as I heard from the other side. It's let's rely on the clinical evidence to be able to make those decisions. That's what we've always done. And that's what we will continue to do. Stop the clock. I need to address the member for Cambridge. Member for Cambridge is obviously in the precinct and in the chamber at the present time in contravention of the current COVID-19 screening protocols that have been adopted by the legislature. And I must now ask the member to withdraw from the chamber and leave the precinct. Member for Cambridge. The rules that you set out, it's proof of double vaccination or proof of negative rapid antigen test, which I was able to provide this morning. I'm in charge of the rules. As the member knows full well, having been being unvaccinated and having tested positive for COVID-19, the current advice from the public officer of health is that she must be out of the chamber for the next 90 days, starting from the date on which she tested positive. I'll ask the member once again to leave the chamber and leave the precinct. I must now warn the member for Cambridge. Member for Cambridge leaves me no choice but to name her, Ms. Carol Holyos, you must leave the chamber and leave the precinct. Thank you. Please start the clock. Next question, the member for Scarborough Southwest. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Deputy Premier. Speaker, three weeks from now, workers across Ontario will be left without any paid sick days. We're still in a pandemic. Ontario has now seen multiple consecutive days with over a thousand cases, including the novel Omicron variant. Yet this government is ripping away even the little support it put in place in the middle of the pandemic. Workers deserve the right to be able to stay home when they're sick, Speaker. They deserve the right to protect themselves, their families, and their workplaces. Will the Premier stand up for workers in Scarborough, in my writing of Scarborough Southwest, and people across Ontario, and stop his cancellation of paid sick days now? Question. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I've said on a number of occasions, obviously we stepped up right away to ensure that that workers across the province of Ontario were safe in the COVID environment. We brought in job protections. In fact, we were the first government across the country to bring in job protections, which are still in place, Mr. Speaker. And of course, we worked very closely with our federal partners to bring in paid sick days and to, in fact, augment those sick days. Mr. Speaker, we will, of course, continue to be there for the workers of the province of Ontario while there's not only during COVID, Mr. Speaker, but as we have always been a party that leads when it comes to protecting workers and to promoting job creation and the safety of the workplace. Thank you. Is that an interesting question? Speaker, I want to remind the House that all the members of the public, the members of the public here, the members of the public, the members of the public and the party who work with us today, these are the members of the community. They are members of the community here in Ontario. They work with the public Heart and we will continue to be there without this pandemic, regardless of what happened yesterday, regardless of our situation. And on the contrary, in the beginning of COVID, we were able to make sure that workers outside the province of Ontario were safe in their lives and what the issue is, holiday season is beyond cruel. Doctors and experts recommended 14 days for self-isolation period for COVID-19, not three. And now this government is taking that away. Speaker, we have legislation ready to be passed that will mandate 10 paid sick days for all Ontario workers. We have proposed dozens of times in this House, Speaker. Will the Premier do the right thing and legislate 10 paid sick days for all workers before the House adjourns for the holidays? Again, Mr. Speaker, there are protections in there are protections in place for workers. As I've said, I just said, Mr. Speaker, we were the first government to bring in protections for our workers. It is very true that we brought in the Premier negotiated an extensive over a billion dollar program to ensure that there were paid sick days. We thought we needed to go a little bit further than that, Mr. Speaker, than the federal program because there were loopholes that we had thought would be addressed in the federal budget that we're not. So we filled in those loopholes, Mr. Speaker. You recall those, Speaker. We voted against proposals by the Liberals and the NDPs and the NDP members because they want to place the burden on our small our small businesses, Mr. Speaker. We didn't think that appropriate at a time when they were giving so much and there was so much challenges for them. So the program that we brought in shifted that burden to the government, Mr. Speaker. We will continue to be there for for not only for essential workers, but for all of the people of the province of Ontario to ensure that they can work in an environment that is safe not only during covid but after Mr. Speaker. Thank you. It's rich hearing this government talk about small business support. They mismanage over millions and over 200 millions of dollars that didn't even go to the businesses that needed the most had to close their door, Speaker. Speaker, frontline service workers such as servers, waiters and retail workers often do not have paid sick days in their contracts. These workers who will be working throughout the holidays rushed to help Ontarians will not be not will not have the protection of paid sick days. They will once again be putting their lives at risk simply to make sure that they can get a paycheck. The premier and his government took away the two provincially mandate paid sick days workers used to have and now they're ripping away the three days that they offered. There is a new variant right now and we cannot I cannot emphasize this enough. There's a new variant and we need to do everything to protect everyone. Will the premier do the right thing and mandate paid sick days and why is the premier continuing to leave workers and everyone behind in this province, Speaker. Government House leader. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Nothing could be further from the truth. As I've said and I'll say it again and again and again. This was the first government to bring in job protection for people impacted by COVID. Mr. Speaker, we insured that first and other jurisdictions followed us. We negotiated with the federal government a program of 20 paid sick days. Mr. Speaker, there were holes in that legislation that we had thought would be filled. So we brought in additional protections to ensure that there were no gaps in that in that care, Mr. Speaker. Our paid sick days allow workers to take their kids to get vaccinated. Mr. Speaker, and that is what we have to continue to do. We will always be there for the workers of the province of Ontario. Mr. Speaker, but the difference between what we were proposing or what we did, Mr. Speaker, and what they were proposing was that they wanted to shift the burden to our small, medium and large job creators at a time when they were being impacted the hardest response. We knew that that wasn't possible and that is why we assume that burden, Mr. Speaker. It's the right program and it has made a big difference in the lives of our essential workers across the province. Next question, the member for Waterloo. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. The Financial Accountability Officer released a report this morning on the financial impacts of the climate change on public infrastructure. The report confirms that the cost of doing nothing are much higher than the cost of climate action. In fact, billions higher. But the Premier has not only failed to prepare for climate change, he has actually made things worse in Ontario. He ripped out electric vehicle charging stations. He wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on not building renewable energy. He forced gas stations to put up propaganda stickers and wasted $30 million on a failed court challenge against federal climate change action. Speaker, how many more public dollars, how many more millions and billions of dollars must be wasted because of the Premier's climate change denial? We deserve better. Ontario deserves so much better. Mr. The Environment, Conservation and Parks. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member opposite for that question. Premier Ford, upon assuming office, acted immediately, Speaker, to launch Ontario's first ever climate change impact assessment. This is a first in the province of Ontario and will inform our province as we fight climate change and make important investments to build adaptation and resiliency. I would also add, when it comes to investing in infrastructure, this government leads the way in the province of Ontario. We've made continued investments and improvement to infrastructure. In fact, the Minister of Infrastructure has made historic commitments in the fall economic statement to support urban and rural municipalities. Speaker, further, we launched the climate change advisory panel. I met with Chair Paul Kovacs and he's been doing important work working not only to inform our government, but in close coordination with the federal government with the national adaptation strategy and the national infrastructure assessment. I recently met with my federal counterpart and will continue to lead the way and make these right investments to build adaptation. Thank you very much. Supplementary question. It's an alternate universe here sometimes, Mr. Speaker. The disturbing images of washed out highways in British Columbia show the risks of climate change on public infrastructure. This is something that we can plan for. But the Premier has not only ignored these risks, he has fought on ideological war against any action to address these risks. The current annual budget, for instance, for the government's climate change and mitigation program is only $15 million. The Premier spent twice that much in court fighting federal climate change action and losing. The Auditor General says Ontario will not even achieve one-fifth of the Premier's own weakened climate change reduction targets. Will the Premier apologize to everyone in this province for his relentless and wasteful attacks on climate change action? And when will we see leadership on climate change, particularly around investment in our infrastructure? Thank you very much. Thank you, Speaker. You know, I gave an answer that included tangible action that this government's taken. You know, the member talked about an alternate universe. I enjoyed Mirror, Mirror and Star Trek. And if we were to relive that, that's their party. The party that says no to investing in adaptation and resiliency. The party that said no to clean fuel standards equivalent to taking over 300,000 cars off the road and a megaton of GHG reductions. The party that said no to the largest clean water investment in Ontario's history working in close coordination with Pollution Prove. We've continued that with a recent announcement I made last week with the Canada-Ontario agreement on important investments. And I'll be saying more of this question period on that as well. That party has said no to $7 billion in green bond working in close coordination. You know, we can't reach net zero. We can't take meaningful action to combat climate change without leveraging the private sector. And while I'm on that, we worked with Algoma with the electrification of their arc furnace. This party has nothing but negativity, no solutions, no ads. The next question, the member for Peterborough Comortha. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Associate Minister of Digital Government. Now more than ever, it's important to protect, support, connect and equip the province's people and people and businesses to succeed in a digital world. Mr. Speaker, through you, could the minister please tell us, how is the ministry working with the province's world-class technology sector to help our government build a digital Ontario? And what is the government doing to unlock the expertise of the private sector to accelerate Ontario's digital future? Mr. Finance. Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I would like to thank the member for that question. You know, our government, Mr. Speaker, is saying yes to simpler, faster and better digital services for the people of Ontario. Earlier this year, we published Ontario's first digital and data strategy to help protect, support and equip Ontarians and businesses to thrive in a digital world. Included in the strategy was a commitment to create a fellowship program to utilize private sector expertise and resources. And on November 25th, our Associate Minister of Digital Government, Khalid Rashid, introduced the Digital and Data Innovation Fellowship Pilot Program, the first of its kind in Canada. Mr. Minister Rashid and this government are building a digital Ontario that puts people first. Mr. Speaker, this project and this pilot will bring the best of Ontario's digital and data talent into the government to help design Ontario's digital future. Supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to the minister for that answer. It's good to hear that this government is transforming Ontario into a province that puts people first and delivers simpler, faster and better government for Ontarians, businesses and communities. Well, I appreciate the answer. I'm sure that my constituents, as well as everyone else in Ontario, would like to know more. So, Speaker, through you, can the minister please explain how inviting the province's top technologists, designers and data experts to work on transformational digital projects will directly benefit the people of Ontario. Minister of Finance, thank you again to my colleague from Peterborough, the Digital and Data Innovation Fellowship is about unlocking private sector expertise and resources to accelerate digital projects that the public service is working on across several ministries, including the Minister of the Attorney General to deliver digital access to courts, including the Minister of Northern Development, Minds, Natural Resource and Forestry to create new digital services for permits and licenses, and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to enhance inspection and compliance programs. Mr. Speaker, we are saying yes to building a digital Ontario that puts people first. We are saying yes to working with the private sector to make things happen. And Mr. Speaker, we are saying yes to making Ontario a world leading digital jurisdiction. Thank you. Next question, Member for Nicola. My question is for the Premier. Today, the unit for French services in the Ombudsman's office publishes second report. This is about providing French services that are of good quality. The secondary, the secondary sector is the one that is the most affected, especially in the Laurentian University. Most cases had to do with people who had courses in French. The French population wants to be heard by the Premier. So when could we have commitment from the Premier so that we can have French services in Sudbury and services that are led by Franco-Fonds, Minister of Franco-Fonds Affairs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Member for her question. Our government would like to thank the Commissioner for her work and her recommendation that will improve French services in the province. The commitment of the Commissioner in communicating with the government, in signing files for important topics for Franco-Fonds, shows that those services are well provided in the first annual report and in the second report that she provided today. Our government was able to respond to all those recommendations. And now we have fast resolutions. We will continue to work in collaboration with all the ministries to ensure that Franco-Fonds have services of high quality in the language of their choice. Mr. Speaker, the Commissioner said that the experience of people who are using the government services is negative and is often humiliating. There are many complaints that were directed to the Ministry of Transportation, who is also the Ministry of Franco-Fonds Affairs. We have to improve this experience. The most striking example is the one of the public services. They do not respect the French Language Services Act. The Commissioner said that her inability to process those complaints are limiting her actions and the quality of the resolutions that she can acquire. Why does the government refuse to improve those services so that we can include medical offices? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to highlight to the member that for many years, the Franco-Fonds community asked for the French Services Language Act to be modernized. It was introduced in 1986. The Liberals had 15 years to improve this act, but it's our government who finally got it done and we modernized the act. We knew how important it was for Franco-Ontarians to have an act that reflects the diversity of the Franco-Ontarian community today. In her report today, the Commissioner said that our government responded immediately to last year's recommendation and that we're working closely with her. I would like to thank the Commissioner for her recommendations. We will continue to work with her to apply them. Thank you. Question to the member for Chatham Kent-Lemington. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks. When I was first elected back in 2011, one of the burning topics was the selling of land in Rondo Park cottagers who had been leasing the property from the Ontario government for decades. Over my 10-year span advocating for these cottagers, I've worked with many ministers with each one, the hope of the sale of property to the cottagers was anticipated, but here we are today and nothing's been finalized. Many varying proposals have been brought forward and I remember during my first term sitting down with former Minister Gravel, along with a member from my city council, discussed the issue. One of my fond memories of the former minister was him saying to me, many come with problems and expect my ministry to fix them. You, on the other hand, have come with a problem, but you have offered very reasonable solutions for my ministry to consider. To this day, I strive to present solutions to the problems to aid and assist ministers regardless of political stripe. So my question to the minister is what challenges lie in the way of finalizing the sale of the property to cottagers? To reply, the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member for that question. I know this indeed is an issue that is close to his heart. The member will know, I mean, well I can't speak for a work he's done with previous governments. What I can speak to is is work we've done and more specifically, since becoming minister, I've met with closely with Mayor Kanoff and know that the municipalities brought forward a proposal pursuant to our obligations as a ministry to the Environmental Bill of Rights. This was posted on the ERO where we received thousands of comments from Ontarians. In fact, this is one of the most commented on ERO posting, postings in Ontario's history. We obviously want to ensure as a government that we're expanding Ontario's protected green spaces. It wasn't far from that member's writing that I made one of my first announcements as minister to expand Turkey Point Provincial Park and add Normandale Beach. So I appreciate Mayor Kanoff's leadership. I appreciate the work that that member opposite has put into this and we will continue to work on the file. Thank you, Speaker. And the supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you, Minister. You know, over the decades, a lot of water has actually gone under the bridge to find a reasonable win-win solution for the Cottagers and the Ontario government. I, along with the help of many, have been successful over the years in getting the file to a point where the municipality of Chatham Kent, the province and Cottages are close to finalizing. For many years, the Cottagers have lived in fear of losing their Cottages upon the expiration of their leases with the province. Because of that, many only did repairs to their Cottages needed. Their Cottages have been the site of years of cherished family memories where the former government had stated that when the leases were up, the Cottagers had to leave and tear down their Cottages at their own expense. Now, you and I both know that Rondo Park was originally established as a park where Cottages could be built upon. Unfortunately, the Cottagers and I were able to get extensions on the leases as more formidable plans were being worked on. So, Minister, could you please provide us with even further details with regards to the park, perhaps a swap of other land to replace the land of the park and add that to the comments for this particular legislature? Thank you. Minister of the Environment. Thank you again, Speaker, and I again appreciate the work that that member has done in the community. I mean, I know in today's day and age the public are often looking for quick black or white solutions to things. This is a complex issue, and I appreciate again the leadership of Mayor Caniff locally. I've met with Mayor Caniff. I sat down with him actually. He educated me on the incredible history of Rondo and I'm greatly appreciative for that. I know the Rondo Cottagers Association is an important community within the community that that member opposite represents. And when it comes to extending land leases and the important work that Ontario Parks do, again, as Minister, I've reviewed carefully the Auditor General's reports and the Auditor General's comments on leases. I would encourage that member opposite to read through that as well. The Auditor General's opined at great length over land leases. You know, we're going to continue working with Ontario Parks. I think broadly speaking what COVID-19 pandemic has shown is that Ontarians want to get outdoors. They want green spaces. Our incredible team at Ontario Parks does a remarkable job protecting and expanding our natural areas and protected species. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next question. Member for Bruce Gray, your own sound. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions for the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks. The Great Lakes are a treasured resource that are integral to the health and well-being of millions of Canadians. In May of last year, the Government of Ontario and the federal government signed the Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes, Water Quality and Ecosystem Health. Can the Minister responsible for the Environment, Conservation and Parks share with the House what his ministry is doing to keep the Great Lakes healthy and thriving for future generations? Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm getting a bit of a leg workout today. I appreciate the question from that member and appreciate his work as a beautiful riding and knows very well that Ontario's Great Lakes represent 20% of the world's surface freshwater. This is the largest body of freshwater on planet Earth. To protect, conserve and restore the Great Lakes is an obligation not just our government, but every member of this legislative assembly. That's why I'm pleased to say that this government's work closely on the 9th agreement, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Canada-Ontario Great Lake Agreement that dates back to 1971. In this latest round of funding, our government's investments invested over $2.8 million in funding to protect and restore this largest body of freshwater on planet Earth, our Great Lakes. We've made investments that do things like improving fish and wildlife habitats, rehabilitating degraded areas, protecting wetlands and aquatic habitats, and I'll expand more on this exciting recent investment in my supplementary. Thank you. Supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks for all of his efforts. The communities who call the Great Lakes home should be encouraged by the leadership of this government for their continued action in protecting our Great Lakes and waterways. We must protect them, and where we find there in decline, we must work to restore them to good health, so they remain drinkable, swimmable, and fishable for future generations. So, Speaker, through you to the Minister, what programs has the government put forward as part of the Canada-Ontario agreement? Thank you again, Speaker. And thank you to the member opposite for that question. As we continue to combat climate change and look at what we can meaningfully do as a government, protecting and restoring our Great Lakes is an important step for maintaining biodiversity and our waterways, protecting our watersheds. And I'm pleased to say that nothing is more important than the health of our Great Lakes. And some of the initiative announced in this latest round of funding include over 400,000 for the Toronto Region Conservation Authority, the great team there to continue collaborative work to improve water quality and the health of aquatic organisms that live in Lake Ontario. Over 110,000 for the University of Guelph to study effluent and protect fish health and their habitat. 45,000 for Mohawk Council to gather data on fish contaminants and over 75,000 for the Niagara Parks Commission to continue their incredible work to conduct coastal wetland restoration projects. Speaker, when it comes to protecting our Great Lakes, when it comes to investing in adaptation and resiliency and biodiversity in our Great Lakes, Premier Ford and this government will always lead the way. Thank you, Speaker. Next question, a member for Essex. Thank you very much, Speaker. Speaker, my question is to the Premier. Speaker, today the Ottawa Citizen reports that several students at Willis College in Ottawa say they were misled about the financial support that they would receive while taking the provincially funded PSW training program. The students say that this government led them to believe that they would include a paid work placement. Now they're facing mounting debt, having to struggle to find extra work or even leaving the PSW program altogether because it's impossible for them to afford the 310 hours of unpaid work required to complete it. Speaker, the government's failure in delivering this critical support is obviously driving students out of the PSW training program. What are they going to do next? Thank you very much to speak. I'm glad the member asked the question. It's an important question. The member may or may not know this is a very small cohort of students. I know the minister of long-term care is working directly with them. These students were not part of the program that the government had set up, but at the same time we know how important it is that we graduate more PSWs and we do it to support students so that they can have their tuition paid for, so that computers or other things that they may need to get their education support while they get their on-the-job training. It's all part of our plan to not only build out 30,000 new long-term care beds, but to ensure that we have 27,000 additional PSWs to support students working directly with the college and directly with these very small cohort of students who pre-dated the program that we brought in. Supplementary? Thank you very much, Speaker. I'm glad to hear that the host leader has acknowledged that the government's delivery of this program is problematic. I wonder if he would acknowledge also that none of this would be happening if the government would value and prioritize and staffing up long-term care. Speaker, these students wanted to join up and learn all that they could to start a rewarding career providing life-saving care as PSWs, but the government has already shown them that they don't value their hard work. Will the government apologize to these students immediately, address the gaps in their bought-to-training program and finally give PSWs the wages and job security that they deserve? I appreciate that he probably wasn't quick enough to modify the answer after he heard a yes, Mr. Speaker. We obviously are working with these small cohort of students from this college whose participation predated the program. Now the program itself shows just how important we think PSWs are. Not only does it cover tuition, it covers textbooks, it covers childcare, it covers the cost of transportation, Mr. Speaker. It covers up to $5,000 for other incidentals that are going through this training. It ensures that they have a placement, ensures that their costs are covered during that placement, Mr. Speaker. We're providing massive amounts of support because we know that as we build out 30,000 new long-term state-of-the-art long-term care beds across the province of Ontario, we are going to need additional PSWs, especially since we are bringing down, we are ensuring that as we are getting the job done for those students. Thank you. Thank you. Next question, the member for Ottawa Vanyer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the days of the old shelter system have come and gone. This is what the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing said earlier this year. I was happy to hear it, and so were my colleagues, my municipal colleagues in Ontario, and to give them the security of a home. The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing has said that he supports this model, but too many homeless Ontarians are still relying on shelters, which perpetuate the pattern of seeking temporary release instead for allowing for rehabilitation. Finland has found success in reducing homelessness through increasing its supply of affordable housing and adopting a housing system. Will the government commit to stop funding mega shelters, such as the proposed Salvation Army project on Montreal Road and Vanier, and direct funding towards supporting housing? And to reply, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for the question, our government continues to take measures to ensure that is more convenient for them. We've been committed as a government to making life more affordable for hardworking Ontarians and addressing the housing crisis that we inherited after years of inaction by the previous government. I agree with the member opposite from Ottawa Vanier that supportive housing is widely considered to be a key element in preventing and addressing the crisis. And that's why in our 2019 budget, our government committed to reviewing Ontario's supportive housing programs to identify operations to streamline and to better coordinate the ministries. We continue to work together with our partner ministries. This is something that we feel is very important for our government's support. I think it's a fantastic question. A supplementary question. Thank you for the response. I recognize nationally for its strong governance and management framework. The housing crisis in Ottawa remains a great challenge. With 13,000 people waiting for affordable housing and we're paying enormous sums of money to house those people in motels and shelters. Ottawa community housing has a plan to build 10,000 new units. 608 units can be built just right next year in 2022 with an investment of 27 million from the province. The minister said that the government would use 510 million of its social services relief funding to help cities create new supportive housing to give people a call home with the support they need and that's a quote from the minister. So my supplementary question to the minister is will you help OCH invent its new built objective with the required investment? Minister Ms. Polfair is in housing. Again Speaker I want to thank the member for the question. Ottawa community housing is a great partner for our government and our government decided very early on in the pandemic. We announced at the time Minister Smith and I that we wanted to make this money flexible for our service manager. So last year in 2020-2021 we assisted the city of Ottawa with over $65 million worth of support in three phases of the social services relief fund and it's very important that the member talks about the ambitious plan that Ottawa community housing has because our government committed in the fourth tranche of the social services relief fund for the 2021-2022 year a planning allocation of over $24 million for the city so that it would help them put a plan in place. The other thing Speaker that I would love to be able to get involved with the federal government we're renegotiating our national housing strategy with the federal government we're being shortchanged based on our core housing need which includes the city of Ottawa some 400 Thank you very much. Thank you the next question the member for Mrs. Saga Malton Thank you Mr. Manny Our healthcare system for the future Mr. Speaker many people in my writing are concerned how their government is planning to ensure hospital capacity for the future so that the growing communities can access excellent care close to home Trillium Health partner is one of the largest from the previous government to deliver on hospital infrastructure to meet the health care needs, patients and families in Peel region, Etobicoke and the surrounding areas deserve. So, Mr. Speaker, through you, to the Minister of Health, what does the recent announcement on the Mississauga hospital and expanding the Queens Way Health Center mean for the residents of Peel region and so many other Ontarians? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Minister of Health. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you very much to the member from Mississauga Malton for the question and for your tremendous advocacy on behalf of your constituents. I am very pleased to speak about our government's recent investment, which I would like to point out, Speaker, is the largest single hospital infrastructure investment in Ontario's history. $30.2 billion over the next 10 years in infrastructure to address long-standing challenges around hospital bed shortages in the hospital sector. This multi-billion dollar investment will build a new state-of-the-art Mississauga hospital and expand Queens Way Health Center, both of which are part of Trillium Health Partners. These important hospital infrastructure projects will help meet the health care needs of patients and families in Peel region, Etobicoke and the surrounding areas by reducing wait times and providing a safe and comfortable environment for patients to receive excellent quality health care. Thank you, Minister, for sharing long-awaited exciting news for TPH. I would like to recognize and thank President of TPH, Karli Faro, for taking a swift action and helping a youth from Mississauga Malton experiencing severe distress and needed urgent medical attention. Thank you, TPH, for providing high-quality care to our residents. Mr. Speaker, Peel and Etobicoke are some of the Ontario's fastest-growing communities and over the next 20 years, the demand for local health care is expected to increase by seven times more than Ontario average. This pandemic has also reminded us the importance of having ready access to hospital beds. So through you, Mr. Speaker, to the Minister, can the Minister share with this House how this new investment will help expand access to hospital services in the future? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, thank you again to the member for the question. This investment will add 600 more hospital beds and expand services to improve access to care and reduce wait times for patients in Peel region, Etobicoke and surrounding communities. The new fully developed Mississauga Hospital is anticipated to include one of the largest emergency departments in Ontario, increasing the number of operating rooms and adding over 350 additional new beds. In addition, the redevelopment plans also include a new inpatient tower at the Queens Way Health Centre to centralize complex continuing care and rehabilitation services for patients while also adding over 150 new beds. Together, we are ensuring that patients and families in Peel region and Etobicoke will continue to have access to high quality care to home, close to home for generations to come. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Covid cases are once again rising and so are hospitalizations and ICU numbers. The power of the Omicron variant is still a frightening on you. Known and kids aged 5 to 11 won't be fully vaccinated until at least February. Speaker, experts agree that rapid tests are a powerful tool in the ongoing fight against the pandemic. The government already has millions of these tests, but the Premier is keeping them locked up in storage where they are not preventing a single case of Covid. It is not enough to give them to kids to take home for the holidays. Will the Premier promise to give rapid tests to Ontario families and to get them into all schools once school resumes in January? Minister of Health. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you very much to the member of the question. While vaccination remains the best way to protect against Covid-19, timely Covid-19 testing of course continues to be a critical component of our provincial pandemic response. That's why our government is enhancing Covid-19 testing by expanding the number of testing locations and making it more convenient to access publicly funded testing for those who need it. This free testing is available to anyone who needs it and is of course widely available. These new testing options are being deployed as more people head indoors because of the weather, but I will speak in my supplementary to the additional places and ways in which people can access those tests free of charge. Thank you, and Speaker, we need more than that. I'm grateful to parents at Earl Beattie Public School in Beaches East York who've been pushing hard to get rapid tests into all schools. They were fortunate enough to find a donor in September until the Premier put a stop to that donation. Earl Beattie parents believe that outbreaks were prevented by the tests they did have and that they gave families enormous peace of mind. Every parent and every person in Ontario for that matter should have access to rapid tests. We should be giving them out like candy, like other jurisdictions do. As my granny always said, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Instead, the Premier is keeping the prevention locked up in storage. Again, will the Premier commit to giving rapid tests to all Ontario families and schools once school resumes in the new year? Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I want to thank the member opposite for the question as the Minister of Health has confirmed. The Government of Ontario is expanding testing options, free publicly funded testing options right across Ontario at pharmacies and other points of access. This is going to make a big difference as we try to encourage more testing for families who needed, particularly those with symptoms of COVID-19. When it comes to what we're doing to keep schools safe, when it comes to expanding of testing, we're the only province in Canada to have launched take-home PCR tests for all publicly funded schools. In fact, for all schools, independent as well. And for rapid tests, we're the only province to be sending children home with a rapid antigen test kit of five tests to be completed over the holidays to ensure a safe return in January. Every public health unit in Ontario has access to rapid tests in some places in the north. For example, as we speak, they're being used to ensure that children remain safe, given the very high rates of positivity in the community. We have invested 300 million dollars in Term 2. We have increased spending for ventilation for 70,000 happy units, and we're going to continue to do whatever it takes, take nothing for granted to keep schools safe in Ontario. Next question, member for Orleans. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Mr. Speaker, medical experts are becoming increasingly concerned with one going so far as saying that the lagging indicators are now flashing brightly. In Ottawa, there are 17 active school outbreaks and three outbreaks in childcare centres. That's over 120 active cases in our schools, Mr. Speaker. That's one quarter of all active cases in Ottawa. And the trend is only going in the wrong direction. Instead of simply using our schools as a vaccination staging ground, the government is forcing parents to register their children one at a time. It's very inconvenient, often inequitable. At every turn, Mr. Speaker, the government takes the slower, more inconvenient process to protect our families and our kids. They're failing to take proactive measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 and it's starting to show once again. We need to accelerate third-dose eligibility. We need pervasive, free rapid testing and we need to invest in better ventilation in our classrooms for our kids that are going back to school. So why, after almost two years of dealing with this pandemic, is the government always choosing the slowest, most reactive, most inconvenient, and often most inequitable approach to managing the pandemic in our communities? Your participation. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. You know, I think one of the great strengths in Ontario is that we have one of the highest vaccination rates for youth in the country. For high school students, 12 to 17, we have over 80% double vaccinated. We are literally one of the highest vaccinated provinces in the country. That is because we've launched over 600 school-based clinics for children age 5 to 11. There are well over 400 school-based vaccination clinics, as we speak, roughly one in five children have already received their first dose. That is incredible progress. I appreciate there's more to do, which is precisely why the government is expanding access to vaccinations. That's why we've improved ventilation in every publicly funded school. 70,000 happy units, mechanical ventilation, improved across the board. It's precisely why we continue to invest with expansion of testing, as I noted earlier, the take-home PCR test to make life easier for those parents, as well as providing on a proactive, preventative basis rapid test for all families so that our kids can get back to class in January as safe as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One quarter of all active cases in Ottawa are in our schools. One quarter of all active cases in our schools. If we remember last December, Mr. Speaker, cases were on the rise and the government was also waffling on implementing public health measures ahead of Christmas. They weren't sure what to do then. It doesn't seem to be that they're sure what to do now. We know that they force small businesses close while keeping big box stars open with very poor distancing. We don't know what they're going to do as we approach the holidays this year. Fast forward to this year. Cases are on the rise. ICUs are moving patients between hospitals and things are going in the wrong direction. We have a variant of concern that's spreading across the province and the government is once again waffling on public health measures. Are we taking them out? Are we not taking them out? Are we setting artificial deadlines to provide false hope? What exactly are we doing? The government doesn't seem to know. This is a constant refrain from this government. Poor communications, mixed messaging, sending false signals to the public. When is the government finally going to be clear with people? Can I ask the member to withdraw? Pardon, I withdraw, Mr. Speaker. Questions been posed. Minister of Health. Speaker. In fact, we have been very clear with the people of Ontario since the beginning of this pandemic. Most recently with our fall preparedness plan and with our plan to reopen Ontario, we indicated when we would be moving to certain stations, the anticipated time, but always with the caveat that if there was a change in circumstances such as a new variant, which was highly transmissible, very virulent and resistant to vaccines, then we would have to reconsider that. Right now we're in the position we're continuing to vaccinate as many people as possible with a very high success rate, but we need to have that additional information in order to be able to make the final determination about what happens in January. We're just at the beginning of December now. So we are expecting to receive that information very shortly, but I can also advise that we have 162 people in intensive care right now. The numbers are still quite low. Any transfers that are happening are not in the same state as what happened before. There are always patient transfers from one hospital to another. There is nothing new in that. That has always been and always will be, but Dr. Thank you. Thank you very much. The next question, the member for Timmy. Well, thank you very much, Speaker. My question to the Premier. Premier, you will know that businesses across this province have been heavily hit as a result of COVID. You will also know that the auditor reported back that your government didn't spend some of the money that was put aside in order to help these businesses through the pandemic. And about $200 million of that ended up going to businesses that didn't need it. One group of businesses that have really been affected are the independent travel agents. These are about half of the travel agents here in Ontario. They don't work in a brick and mortar type setting. They work at home as brokers and they didn't even qualify for the most part for these programs. So will your government finally do the right thing and allow that sector to be able to be part of possibly getting some of that money that was entitled to help small businesses in this situation? To respond, Mr. Comance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and through you to the member opposite for that important question. He's absolutely right. The travel and tourism and accommodation sector has been particularly hard hit. And that's why our government did move to provide supports to a broad range of people and businesses in that sector, not least of which it was through the tourism and travel business support grant that we put forward. We also have the tourism recovery program that applications just closed a couple of weeks ago. So we'll be announcing more support for businesses in the travel and tourism sector. Mr. Speaker, this government has worked from day one, March of 2020 to provide unprecedented supports for businesses over $10 billion of support for businesses. Through getting vaccination rates and the verify app, we've been able to open up capacity so businesses that are in the travel and tourism and accommodation area can welcome back customers safely. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Uplimentary. You know, to the again, back to the premier, the problem is most of those programs they don't qualify for. They apply, they get denied. They're told they don't fit within the criteria of the program that's established. And we're now going into a situation where a lot of independent travel agents and others are starting to lose bookings and because what's happening with this new variant that's now coming upon us. What's worst is their association has been asking to meet with your minister in order to discuss how to approach a solution to this problem. And the minister will not get back to them, will not acknowledge even the request for the meeting. So will this government do the right thing, make sure that the programs qualify for these businesses and at least meet with their association so they can get a direct answer? Remind the members to make the comments for the chair. Mr. Finance, to reply. Yeah, Mr. Speaker, through you to the member opposite to my rookie colleague over there. Listen, very important question. And of course, one of the important things is to listen to all Ontarians. And I would just remind the member opposite that we have worked very hard throughout the pandemic. We'll definitely follow up through you following this answer in the session to follow up with my colleague opposite. I will say this though. The as the Minister of Health gets up every single day, her number one goal is to protect the lives of all Ontarians to get to encourage people to get vaccinated, to use all the tools in our toolkit to reopen safely, which includes the travel agents, which includes reopening the ability of Ontarians to travel freely in this province. And Mr. Speaker, the staycation tax credit is just another step in the right direction to supporting the small businesses in this province. Next question, the member for Glen Gary, Prescott Russell. Thank you, Speaker. I was listening to government and the Minister of Education, their responses and what they've been saying during the last week, regarding the child care for the price of $10 per day. So what they were saying was the following. They were negotiating with the federal government during the last weeks, during the last month and even before the last federal election. But there is something that I don't seem to get because we've learned that the government had not even presented their plan to the federal government, which is essentially the very first part of the negotiation process, which means that the provincial government didn't present this. So I would like to know the exact date when the government presented this. Thank you, Speaker. For the last 15 years, the former liberal government neglected child care affordability in the province. As a consequence of their inaction, as a consequence of their inaction, child care rose by 400% under the leadership of the Dalzooka liberals. No one could defend that. And I would hope the member opposite or supplemental would accept the premise that the 400% increase, the 40% increase over the national average is an unacceptable track record, which the people of Ontario continue to pay the price for. Now, our government under our previous leadership is working with the federal government to get a good, fair deal for Ontario families. Yes, we won a deal. We've met with them multiple times, presented their numbers and made it clear with 40% of the children of this country in this province we need to sign a deal in order to achieve the national main order of affordability. We've asked for a more affordable program. Order. We've asked for a larger investment. And we've urged the feds to step up their investment of 2.5% fully unacceptable so that we can get child care affordable for all parents of this country. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. I would like to say that the minister tried to reply to my question, but that was not the case. He said that he was negotiating with the federal government, whereas he was not. So there are so many families now that cannot access child care. And we still see that the minister of education and the government were not negotiating. So why are they stretching these steps so long? Is it in order to get an agreement before the election next year? We want to get a deal that is fair for Ontario families. And I think what is abundantly clear is that if Stephen Del Ducco was the premier of this province, he would have caved to the first deal available, leaving potentially hundreds of millions of dollars on the table. Meaning we wouldn't have got to $10 a day. We would have remained inaccessible and unaffordable for families. And I just think that's an abdication of leadership which is consistent with the leadership of that of Stephen Del Ducco. But for our government and our premier, we're saying to Justin Trill, to the federal government, we deserve a higher investment over a longer period of time that delivers affordability for all families in this province. That's what standing up for the provincial interest is about. We respectfully disagree with the federal government. We're sitting with them in good faith. We want to get a deal. I assure the member and her constituents we want a fair deal. We want child care to be affordable after the reckless legacy of a 400% increase. Thank you. Thank you very much. That concludes our question for you to this morning. With a deferred vote on a motion for closure, on the motion for third reading of bill 37, an act to enact the Fixing Long-Term Care Act 2021 and a mandor appeal of various acts. On December 2nd, 2021, Mr. Phillips moved third reading of bill 37. And on December 6th, 2021, Mr. Usterhoff moved that the question be now put. The bells will now ring for 30 minutes during which time members may cast their votes on Mr. Usterhoff's motion that the question be now put. And I will ask the clerks to please prepare the law.