 Therefore, it's time for Question Period, the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition Act. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health. I've asked before in this legislature about the aspect of the people's guarantee that I was most excited about, the $1.9 billion investment in mental health over 10 years. Now I know we've heard the government's talking points, their line, their rhetoric, that what they've done is good enough, but it isn't. And I'm going to ask again, will they match our commitment for an additional $1.9 billion into mental health to make sure we close this gap, this dirty little secret in our health care system? Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to go through this again, because in fact I will give the opportunity to the Leader of the Opposition to correct his record and to correct his platform as well. Because when he talks about a historic, unprecedented investment in mental health, when he talks about it being the largest investment of any province in mental health in this country's history, he is absolutely and categorically wrong. And he needs to understand that his investment of $1.9 billion being proposed would result in a dramatic reduction in the level of funding and increase that this government has actually put into place. In fact, and I know he's laughing, Mr. Speaker, but I'm happy from now through the election to remind Ontarians that we invested over $10 billion of new money over the last 10 years. He's proposing only $1.9 billion. Mr. Speaker, again to the Minister of Health, and I get he's probably getting these talking points from the Premier's office, but it is incorrect. Mr. Speaker, our challenge to the government is to match the commitment we're making, which is in addition $1.9 billion to make sure we close this gap. In 1979, we spent 11% of our health care budget on mental health, despite all their talk, all their rhetoric, all their fake spin, today we spend 6%. It's not good enough, Mr. Speaker, and that's why I am challenging the government to match our commitment for an additional $1.9 billion towards mental health. Mr. Speaker, their commitment is simply not enough. In fact, I stood up in this legislature, and I know the leader of the opposition is laughing now, but I'm happy to sit down with them and go through the numbers because our increase in new funding using the precise same methodology as they do in their platform, Mr. Speaker, next year they're proposing to spend an additional $151 million. In our first year of the last decade, we added $600 million to new dollars. In their second year, they're proposing an additional $190 million. We added $650 million. In fact, if you look at their first four years of new investments in mental health, Mr. Speaker, they're proposing less than a billion dollars, considerably less than a billion in the first four years. We contributed new investments of over $3 billion over the same period of time. Mr. Speaker, again to the Minister of Health and its liberal math at it again. They're applauding, saying that everything's fine. You know, yesterday we learned in the Globe and Mail, and this is from the Globe, Mr. Speaker, the majority of people treated in an Ontario emergency room after a suicide attempt are not seen by a psychiatrist within six months. Six months. I hear stories from parents and grandparents who have had a young person, a child who's reached out for help, and they have to wait six months. You know, there's children who are taking their lives, who have the courage, have the courage to have asked for help, and our health care system is abandoning them, and yet we've got a government saying everything is fine. It's not fine, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister of Health match our pledge to put an additional $1.9 billion in new funding to mental health on top of all the commitments they've received? Thank you, Minister. Their bad math is not limited to mental health because they're committed to building 15,000 new long-term care beds. But they've only budgeted $77 million over their entire mandate to do that, Mr. Speaker. We've committed to $5,000 over the next four years. That commitment, Mr. Speaker, is going to cost the government $380 million. They're proposing to build three times as many beds, but they've budgeted one-fifth what we've budgeted for just $5,000. So we're contributing $60,000 annually per bed. They're actually contributing only $5,000 annually for the operations and nothing on capital. So they have to dramatically increase their commitment to make that 15,000 beds. They have to actually raise their commitment from $77 million to almost a billion dollars, Mr. Speaker. That's another billion missing in their platform. As I have been doing and you have noticed, I've been providing you with an opportunity to be your own judge and jury. It hasn't happened. We're in warnings. Thank you. New question, the leader of the opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister of finance. The government is currently bandaging questions about gas plants 2.0. There are almost $80 million that belong to ratepayers that are still missing. The minister knows that electricity companies built ratepayers for over $260 million through ineligible expenses. And the minister knows that there is still nearly $80 million of ineligible expenses that have yet to be repaid to the ratepayers and taxpayers. So, Mr. Speaker, my question is clear and direct to the minister of finance. Will he commit to this legislature to recoup that money on behalf of Ontario ratepayers? Thank you. Minister of Finance. Minister of Energy, Mr. Speaker. Minister of Energy. Speaker, you know, we take market oversight of our electricity system very seriously and any instance of wrongdoing will be investigated and dealt with accordingly, Mr. Speaker. And we are confident in the Ontario Energy Board and our system operator to run an efficient, reliable and fair electricity market for ratepayers across the province. There are strong measures in place under Ontario's electricity market rules that allow the system operator to identify and take action on false claims under these market programs. Our system operator has the authority to conduct audits of claims made by generators and other market participants. And if needed, Mr. Speaker, our system operator can impose fines and seek the recovery of amounts that were incorrectly claimed. And I know, Mr. Speaker, in the past, Goreway was an example. A record $10 million fine was imposed and $100 million in payments were recovered from the generator's total claims and $168 million of the $200 million has been claimed so far. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, back to the minister. We know that one of those companies gaming the system was the government-run OPG. We know that they are doing this at the same time that hydroids were skyrocketing, seniors couldn't afford their hydro bills, were being disconnected, and families were afraid, petrified to open their hydro bills. How did the government respond? They ignored warning after warning after warning. And then they rewarded. This is unbelievable, Mr. Speaker. They rewarded the former CEO of OPG with a bonus of half a million dollars. A half a million dollar bonus while the system was being played like a fiddle. Taxpayers, ratepayers abused. So my question, Mr. Speaker, is who signed off on this half a million dollar bonus while OPG built the system and ratepayers had their funds stolen? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. OPG is Ontario's low-cost provider of electricity and they take the responsibility to Ontarians very seriously, Mr. Speaker. OPG works every day to ensure they act in an appropriate and fully compliant manner that respects the rules that govern Ontario's electricity system, Mr. Speaker. With regard to their participation in the real-time generator cost guarantee program, OPG believed they were acting in compliance with the program's policies as set out by the system operator. OPG has said in a statement, they did not intentionally misuse the market rules and OPG was not sanctioned as a result of their participation in that program. The audit did determine that there were differences in understanding of what constituted eligible costs under the program. So in respect of some of what those eligible costs were, OPG repaid certain claims, claimed amounts after discussions concluded what were eligible costs. OPG promptly repaid all of the amount to the ISO in full in 2015 and the matter was concluded. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the minister, the response that some of the ineligible expenses have been repaid isn't good enough. The front bench of the Liberal Caucus has sat idly by while this has all happened. They let these companies claim expenses that were completely ridiculous. You know, you look at, here's stories of expensive scuba gear in raccoon traps, scuba gear in raccoon traps. I'm asking about expenses like that in the legislature and they have the docile to say everything is fine, everything is rosy. And for the life of me, and this is the reason I asked the question to the minister of finance, is I can't understand why four ministers of energy and two premiers have allowed this to happen. The member from Essex is warned. Finish please. Mr. Speaker, four ministers of energy, two Liberal premiers have been asleep at the switch when this has happened. Will the minister of finance tell us how this has been allowed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think everyone in this house would agree that abuses within the system are completely unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. And that's why our system operator has investigated those market participants and where a significant wrongdoing was present, Mr. Speaker, compensation has been recovered and returned to the ratepayers. $168 million of the $200 million in ineligible costs have been recovered by the ISO, Mr. Speaker. The $32 million that is remaining, those are still in discussions. An example, Mr. Speaker, is Goreway. Goreway was caught gaming the system, Mr. Speaker. They were fined a record, $10 million, Mr. Speaker, and they recovered $100 million of those costs, Mr. Speaker, and they brought those back to the ratepayers. We all agree that the abuses of the system are unacceptable. That's why we continue to ensure that we've made the changes so things like this will never happen again, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. I hope that's not a test. New question, the leader of the third party. Mr. Speaker, my questions to the Deputy Premier. Does the Premier of this province and the Liberal government believe that hydro bills should have partisan liberal advertising and include partisan liberal fliers? Thank you, Deputy Premier. Mr. Vanerjee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is important that all ratepayers in the province know what is on their bills, Mr. Speaker, and that's why Hydro One has a pilot project underway in which they're doing a new bill redesign, Mr. Speaker, helping customers right across the province that are Hydro One customers understand their bills and some of the complexity of the bills, Mr. Speaker. Knowing that they're getting a 25% reduction on their bills is important, Mr. Speaker. It's the same thing like the debt retirement charge. The debt retirement charge has been eliminated for residential customers, Mr. Speaker, but hindsight being 2020, we thought letting people know on their bills that it was no longer a cost on there, but leaving it on so people could understand that was actually the opposite, Mr. Speaker. We believe making sure that we have a clear guideline for all residential customers for all ratepayers across the province, Mr. Speaker. We'll continue to work with Hydro One. We'll continue to work with all the LDCs to come up with a bill that is clear for all ratepayers right across the province. Thank you. A supplementary. Speaker, Ontarians deserve to know why their Hydro Bill now includes desperate liberal party campaign advertising. I'm going to send an Ordering Council across the aisle to the Deputy Premier who's claiming this doesn't exist. If I can get a page, please. What this does is it forces Hydro companies to include liberal campaign messaging on people's Hydro bills. And the Order is personally signed by the Minister of Energy and the Deputy Premier who also happens to be the chair of the Ontario Liberal Election Campaign. Can she clarify for us, Speaker? Can she clarify for us exactly which hat she was wearing when she signed to the Ordering Council? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is this Deputy Premier, this government that wears the hat that protects ratepayers, Mr. Speaker. It's that party over there, Mr. Speaker, that votes against the 25% reduction for every single family in this province. How can they look in the mirror, Mr. Speaker, and stand up every day and say that they're defending the ratepayers in this province when they did absolutely nothing, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely nothing. What we're going to talk about right now is buying back Hydro 1 shares, Mr. Speaker. That's actually going to stop building hospitals, stop building schools, Mr. Speaker. That's what we're doing on this side of the house. When it comes to Northern Ontario or rural customers or low income individuals or First Nations individuals, you know what they did, Mr. Speaker? They forgot about them. They actually didn't even put them into their plan and they can wave their finger all they want but the truth hurts, Mr. Speaker. They're protecting the ratepayers in this province. Mr. Speaker, please. Mr. Speaker, please. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Energy and the Chair of the Ontario Liberal Election Campaign personally signed the order for Hydro Utilities to include partisan messaging in Ontario's Hydro Bills. Who is paying for these Liberal Fliers, Mr. Speaker? The people of Ontario or the Liberal Party? It's an easy answer, Mr. Speaker. It's the people of Ontario, unlike the opposition, right? The people of Ontario is the one that we actually stand up for and... Let me check my list. I'll check it twice. I believe someone is warned. Again, Mr. Speaker, it's the people of Ontario, the 25% reduction that it's this government that brought forward to help them with the relief, Mr. Speaker, because we invested $70 billion in rebuilding the system, Mr. Speaker. We made sure that we have a supply mix that can actually be relied on, Mr. Speaker. It's bringing forward clean power and that is something that we should all be proud of in this province. But when it comes to defending the interests of the people of Ontario, it is this government. We are building up our province and we're making sure that our electricity rates are as affordable as possible, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. My next question is also for the Deputy Premier. The Minister of Energy and the Deputy Premier Chair of Ontario's Liberal Election Campaign personally signed a government order forcing hydro utilities to mail out partisan fliers from July 2017 through to July 2018. That's a month after Election Day, Speaker. That means that partisan liberal fliers are going to be mailed to homes across Ontario from now through to Election Day and beyond. So let's agree to call these fliers what they are, desperate liberal campaign advertising. I don't think that's right, Speaker. New Democrats don't think that's right. Does the Deputy Premier think that's right? Deputy Premier. Minister of Energy. Minister of Energy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess the NDP didn't think giving people in Ontario 25% reduction was right. They voted against it, Mr. Speaker. I guess they didn't think giving low-income individuals a break by an enhanced Ontario electricity support program, Mr. Speaker, is right, because they voted against it, Mr. Speaker. I guess they didn't think giving First Nations a delivery charge credit, Mr. Speaker, was a good thing, because they voted against that as well, Mr. Speaker. The list goes on and on. They vote against everything, Mr. Speaker. They vote against things that actually help people in this province. Mr. Speaker, they voted against making sure people that live in rural and northern parts of our province see a 40% to 50% reduction. That is significant for those customers, Mr. Speaker, that are living in those parts of the province, making sure that they can actually see their bills lowered significantly, because again, Mr. Speaker, some of them don't have a choice between natural gas or electricity, so they're using electricity, and we're working on that as well with the Minister of Infrastructure, rolling out a plan to get natural gas to these communities as well, Mr. Speaker. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, what isn't right is using public money for partisan purposes. That's what's no person in Ontario whose bill will be lowered, because they received liberal campaign ads in their hydro bill. No business and no family. There is zero public good that comes from this advertising campaign. In fact, local distributors are against the politicization of people's bills. Jim Ryan, Chair of Niagara on the Lake Hydro, said this recently, and I quote, putting political messaging on the invoice is simply wrong. I agree, it is wrong. The only group that benefits from mailing out these partisan fires is the Liberal Party. Is the Liberal Party paying for these fires, or is it the people and businesses of Ontario? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we have an LDC working group. Again, Mr. Speaker, with the Electricity Distributor Association, part of that group, which represents all local utilities across the province, and they're working with us, Mr. Speaker, as part of the long-term energy plan to create a bill redesigned, Mr. Speaker. So they understand what needs to be done and how we need to ensure that we make it as clear as possible for people to understand how our electricity system works and how our electricity bills work as well, Mr. Speaker. So we work with the LDCs. We make sure that we work with all stakeholders in this sector, low-income individuals, First Nations groups, Mr. Speaker, to bring forward a 25% reduction that they've been seeing on their bills now for almost six months, Mr. Speaker, and that is, Mr. Speaker, thanks to us, thanks to this government, unlike the opposition who voted against it over and over again. Final supplementary. Speaker. He's got a working group of the LDCs together so that they can figure out how they're going to put the forced partisan advertising on the hydro bills and are waiting for desperate partisan liberal flyers to be printed and then mailed to them in their hydro bills. It's bad enough that people have to open their bill and see the costs that come from decades of conservative and liberal privatization in our electricity system. They shouldn't have to get liberal party campaign ads as well. Will this liberal government do the right thing by the people of this province and stop this practice immediately? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, please. Mr. Speaker, please. Thank you. Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So when people open their bills in this province, what they see is a 25% reduction thanks to this government, Mr. Speaker. Member from Hamilton Mountain is warned. Carry on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When low-income individuals open their bill, they see further reductions on their bill thanks to the Enhanced Ontario Electricity Support Program. When First Nations open their bill, when they live on a reserve, Mr. Speaker, they will see that there is no longer much on their bill, and that's thanks to this government working with many First Nations right across the province, Mr. Speaker, and hearing and listening to their needs and acting on that, Mr. Speaker. We have made sure that Hydro-1 has come forward with some changes, especially with their distribution charges as well, Mr. Speaker. They're going to see the Triple-RP decrease their bills between 40% and 50%, Mr. Speaker, and that is something that the opposition parties voted against. That is shameful, Mr. Speaker, of Ontario and acted on their request, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. New question to the member from Prince Edward Houston. Thanks, Speaker. My question this morning is for the acting Premier. Speaker, the auditor pointed out last week that nine companies built electricity customers out of $265 million on their bills. We know that three of them are goreway, Resolute Forest Products, and Ontario Power Generation. We know two of the anonymous companies still sit on the panel writing the government's new electricity rules after they broke the old ones. The Premier can't have it both ways, Speaker. So why is the Premier protecting companies who cheated electricity customers and will she stop allowing them to write the new rules for the electricity system after breaking the old ones? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Minister of Energy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again, pleased to rise and talk about the market oversight that is put in place by our electricity system operator and the importance role that they play, Mr. Speaker. And again, I think we would all agree that any abuses of our system just cannot happen, Mr. Speaker. And so we are looking at changing the system. We've got market renewal underway and what we have there, Mr. Speaker, is rebuilding the foundation of our electricity system to allow for more flexibility, but also to ensure that the abuses of this system stop and don't continue, Mr. Speaker. So we have a working group in place right now to make sure that we can find ways to ensure that we can make this system function properly. And it is important to say, Mr. Speaker, that the two co-chairs of that working group have resigned as of December 1st and they both come from the companies that were mentioned by the member from the opposition. Thank you, supplementary. This is an absolute snow job by the government again and we need to get to the bottom of this. Even the electricity system operator, the IESO, is tired of covering for the government. The ISO told the Canadian press yesterday that the government is allowed to change the rules and disclose the names of the other six companies who cheated electricity customers on their bills. So now we're back to the greatest hits of the liberals in question period. Who are they protecting and what are they hiding? Speaker, will the acting Premier commit to the people of Ontario that will have the names of those anonymous companies by the end of business today? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, the ISO right now is continuing discussions with those companies working on getting back $32 million of costs that were ineligible, Mr. Speaker. And as OPG come out and said publicly that they were, yes, one of those companies, they actually resolved that quite quickly back in 2015. Through that process, Mr. Speaker, OPG thought they were applying for program costs that they weren't eligible for. After discussion with the system operator, they recognized that they weren't eligible for these costs and so they acted quickly, Mr. Speaker, to make sure that they could repay those costs. They did that very quickly back in 2015. There was no fines levied because it was an error and they recognized that error and they fixed that mistake, Mr. Speaker. The costs were recovered and they made sure, Mr. Speaker, that it was concluded in a timely fashion, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. New question, the leader of the third party. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Deputy Premier. Week after week, we're hearing more heartbreaking stories of overcrowding inside Ontario's hospitals and the suffering that families are going through. Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket is operating at 125% capacity. Patients are being put in hallways, auditoriums, lounges, and even gymnasiums because there aren't enough funded beds. Executives at Southlake are speaking out now and calling it an overcrowding crisis. But the Premier has only given Southlake four temporary beds. Why is this government doing so little to help patients who are being treated today in hallways, auditoriums, and gymnasiums in hospitals across this province? Thank you, Deputy Premier. Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Minister of Health, Long-Term Care. Well, Mr. Speaker, you'll recall that number of weeks ago, this government made the announcement that we are creating 1200 new acute care beds across this province. And in addition to that, roughly 600 for transitional care. And I'm very pleased to announce and very proud, in fact, that we have now opened, as of Sunday, the Reactivation Care Centre that was formally at the Finch site of Humber River Hospital. And I want to congratulate all of the hospitals and their staff that made an absolutely perfect and seamless transition, including, I want to acknowledge the CEO of Southlake Regional Health Centre, Mr. Speaker, because they transported 30 of their inpatients into this Reactivation Centre at the Finch site, Mr. Speaker. And that is just one of five hospitals where they now have 125 additional beds opening. And as you can imagine, reducing by between six to eight percent the complement of people in beds, including at Southlake. So in fact, this is very important for that hospital. Thank you. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, Southlake has 100 more patients than they have funding to care for. But the Premier is only allocating four beds, four temporary beds. That means patients are stuck in hallways. Patients don't have bathrooms. They have to share public washrooms down the hallways from their rooms. People don't have privacy. And the hospital isn't able to use the right kind of infection control measures. People are suffering from the crisis of hospital overcrowding in the GTA and across Ontario. Why isn't this government doing more to stop the crisis that the liberal and conservative hospital cuts have created over these last couple of years? Thank you, sir. So Mr. Speaker, we're opening and in most cases have opened the equivalent of six community hospitals across this province. And that includes, so the hospitals that are involved in the Humber site include Mackenzie Health, Southlake, North York General Hospital and the Humber Wilson site as well. Each of those hospitals is moving 30 of their existing inpatients into that better transitional rehabilitative and reactivation care. But in fact, Mr. Speaker, in early 2018 Markham Stovill will transfer an additional 24 and Mackenzie is going to send over another 90, Mr. Speaker. It will result in a 17% reduction in the inpatient load at Mackenzie and not to be beaten by that specific announcement, Hillcrest Reactivation Centre through University Health Network and St. Elizabeth just opened this past weekend as well an additional 75 beds in rehabilitation care. This is a fantastic progress and I congratulate all of us involved. Thank you, Speaker. Good morning. My question is to the Minister of Housing, Minister responsible for poverty reduction strategy. We know that even though Ontario's economy is strong some people are still struggling to get by. Poverty is a problem that needs to be eradicated so everyone has the opportunity to achieve a powerful potential and contribute to a prosperous and healthy Ontario. One way we are working towards this goal is through the local poverty reduction fund. I know that it is a six year $50 million commitment by this government to help eradicate poverty in our communities and that includes my writing of Tunis Padena and its working. The Minister was in Thunder Bay just yesterday to make a further announcement on local poverty reduction fund. Minister, tell us more about this announcement. Thank you. Minister of Housing, Minister responsible for the reduction of poverty strategy. Thank you, Mr Speaker and I want to thank the member from Trinity Padena for the question. In Ontario we have an incredibly strong economy right now but unfortunately poverty remains a reality for far too many Ontarians. On this side of the House we're committed to creating fairness and opportunity for all Ontarians. In earlier this fall I announced Ontario's commitment to the poverty reduction strategy with $16 million for 48 projects in communities right across Ontario. But yesterday, Mr Speaker I was in Thunder Bay to announce the Indigenous stream of local poverty reduction fund initiatives created in partnership with Indigenous communities and First Nations. Mr Speaker these programs are going to assist in tailoring programs that are specific to their needs that will assist Indigenous and First Nations people with food security, with their housing, with income supports and employment supports. I want to thank the minister for the answer. In fact recently I was able to announce several projects in around my writing that funded through the local poverty reduction fund. This includes funding to the Access Capital Community Fund which will provide funding to help train newcomers, visible minority, women, youth and other in entrepreneurship and other skills development. This funding will help so many people by giving them the opportunity to thrive in Ontario. I'm glad to hear the local poverty reduction fund is helping Indigenous community in specific. Could the minister tell us more about our government's effort to alleviate poverty in Indigenous communities and support healthy, prosperous community? Thank you, minister. Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. Thank you, Speaker. Our government knows that poverty looks very different depending on what part of the province you're in and the needs of Northern Ontario First Nations can in fact be quite different than those in Southern Ontario. We have $1 million in 14 Indigenous led housing projects that were announced yesterday by the Minister of Housing. Through innovative programs like this as well as our $95 million in Indigenous Economic Development Fund and a further $56 million investment in Indigenous institutes we are creating fairness and opportunity for Indigenous communities. Our government knows that reconciliation requires action in addition to words and that's why we are working with Indigenous communities to ensure a better future for Indigenous peoples in Ontario. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. New question, the member from Nipissing. Thank you and good morning, Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Finance. The Financial Accountability Office showed us Ontario is working with three sets of books, Speaker. That is simply ridiculous. We need one set of books, one true set of numbers to guide us. There's a way to do this and that's for the government to follow the law pass a regulation and release their pre-election finance report. The Auditor General said it's in the public's interest for the government to give us a pre-election report to examine as soon as possible with sufficient time to do our work. This will give us one number, one set of books. Speaker, will the government tell us when they will be bringing the regulation forward and when they will present the auditor with their pre-election finance report? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The reason there is a pre-election report is because this government mandated it because of the elimination and the fact that they held and hid a deficit throughout their proposal when they went to a budget. We are balancing the books, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the F.A.O. for the work they're doing around the sensitivity. He acknowledges that our economy is growing, that we have taken steps to balance the budget. In fact, the public accounts, which is the one that matters most is what has happened to the state illustrate that we beat again our targets last year by over $3 billion under .1 billion in terms of our actual results. I recognize that the member opposite with his own promises are unable to keep it because his own analysis states that they are not going to be able to achieve it. I'll say more in the supplementary, Mr. Speaker. Back to the minister. Families need to be able to trust what the government says about our finances. They deserve a true fiscal picture. That's only fair. But the auditor general has refused to sign off on Ontario's books multiple times under this Liberal government. The auditor has one more opportunity, and that's to review a pre-election finance report. First, the government must pass a regulation confirming it will release a pre-election report by a committed deadline. We want one set of books so we can truly assess the damage the Liberals have done to Ontario. I'll ask again, will the government tell us when they will be bringing the regulation forward and when they will present the auditor with their pre-election finance? We are using the accounting principles that have been provided over the last 16 years. In fact, an independent review of the government's pension accounting and other things that was commissioned illustrated by an expert panel concluding that the province's accounting treatments will be approved. I'll leave those disputes to the accountants, but I'll say this, Mr. Speaker, Kevin Page, the individual that assessed the people's guarantee says the following. Assessing the reasonableness of the estimates of the fiscal plan underlying the 2018 election platform of the Progressive Conservative Party, he says this, we caution readers that the provisions of an opinion on the reasonableness of the estimates underlying the fiscal plan he says we do not currently or we're not currently in a position to pronounce on those expectations we look forward to seeing more detailed plans of the future their numbers are based on ours Mr. Speaker, and they are estimating a deficit with what we're saying is the budget is countered. New question from Hamilton Melton. Thank you Mr. Speaker, my question is for the acting Premier, Zara Anucha, Amanda Zulman and Michelle Sparling are here today. They are incredibly brave advocates for children's mental health services. Zara and Amanda needed mental health supports, but like 12,000 children in Ontario they were told that they would have to wait for the care that they desperately needed or their parents would have to pay for it out of pocket. It's just not right that any child should have to wait months on end for mental health supports that they need. Will the acting Premier commit to eliminating the waitlist for children's mental health services so that every child gets the help they need right away? Thank you. Mr. Children and Youth Services Thank you Mr. Speaker our government is working to truly build a mental health system here in the province of Ontario for young people that aims to reduce wait times and offer more services to those who need it. Mr. Speaker we've increased our mental health spending every single year since we've been in government we've invested over $10 billion more into the system since 2008 and Mr. Speaker we'll continue with that trend. Our party and the Minister of Health has publicly committed in this house on a number of occasions that we will put forward more than $1.9 billion over the next 10 years we're working with experts right across the system, right across the province to ensure that we're putting the investments in the right place so we can reduce wait times for young people in the Ministry of Children in our ministry and within the sector, the reality is that the complexities that young people are going through today Mr. Speaker are different from where they were 10 years ago and we're building a system to take on those challenges. Supplementary. Community based mental health centres have received only two small increases to their base funding in the past 25 years and here's what that means for families. Moms like Michelle have had to drive long distances to get the vital treatment their kids needs. Every year 50,000 children and youth end up in crisis inside our overcrowded hospitals because they have no other place to go. As we learned just yesterday, the majority of people who are treated in an emergency room after a suicide attempt are not getting follow-up appointments with needed psychiatrists. When will this government take real action to improve mental health care and actually eliminate wait lists for children and youth across the country? Mr. Speaker please Mr. Speaker please Thank you. Minister. Thank you Mr. Speaker Back in 2011-2012 our government committed to a process called moving on mental health it was to build a new strategy here in the province of Ontario that was backed up with 100 million investment into children's mental health in the province of Ontario. Mr. Speaker that strategy commitment was to look at the way we fund youth mental health here in the province of Ontario so we could actually reduce wait times. We know that this is a challenge that continues to change but Mr. Speaker here are some of the last few years into youth mental health in partnership with my ministry and the ministry of health we've built nine new youth wellness hubs for young people aged 12 to 25. We spend 3 million annually to support training professional development for Indigenous mental health and addiction workers 2.75 million for psychiatric hospitals 16 million to create thousand more supportive housing spaces nearly 48 million for specialized mental health services St. Joseph care group the list goes on and on and on Thank you. New question the member from the Tobacco north Thank you Speaker my question is for the minister of health and long term care the Honourable Eric Hoskins One of our mandates and indeed animating beliefs is that our government believes that everyone in the province of Ontario deserves high quality health care that is dignified and compassionate and that in particular includes those individuals fighting substance use disorders. We've of course been clear throughout the past year that we've been dealing with this as a crisis an opioid crisis that unfortunately has taken the lives of far too many people to address this our government has put in place the most comprehensive opioid strategy in that country and as we've making critical investments to strengthen our strategy and supporting those saving lives on the front lines but still speaker last week we received tragic news from the chief coordinator of Ontario that opioid related deaths are continuing to rise My question is this I asked the minister of health and long term care if you can inform this house what are the critical steps our government is taking to address this growing public health Thank you Mr. Speaker as minister of health and as a public health physician and as a father and husband not a day goes by that I do not reflect any reality of this crisis and those numbers are unfortunately going up Mr. Speaker last week in response to a recent federal policy change I wrote a letter to the federal health minister declaring this crisis a public health emergency and formally requesting that they expand our ability to respond to the growing crisis by allowing us to approve and fund overdose prevention sites Mr. Speaker we were granted this exemption immediately and we can now further strengthen Ontario's current harm reduction efforts in communities and protect the courageous frontline workers at these sites from federal prosecution Mr. Speaker we have also ramped up access to addiction treatment across the province including in over 30 communities that will now be able to access effective rapid access addiction medicine clinics Mr. Speaker these are some of the life saving supports that we're providing Thank you Mr. Speaker and I thank of course the minister of health for that answer Speaker as a physician and parliamentarian of course I'm pleased to be part of government that has taken such strong action to ending the opioid crisis and all health care partners have to balance the dictate between pain control and addiction avoidance appropriate prescribing versus street recreational use timely access to care versus harm reduction on an acute on-site basis our government's investments in harm reduction addiction treatment are pillars of course speaker of our overall opioid strategy and we know that even more support is required for those on the front lines so I'd like to know what our government is doing to help our first responders in this shared fight and I ask Could you develop about what the government is doing about this crisis Mr. Speaker the minister of community safety and correctional services Thank you very much Thank you very much Mr. Speaker last week's opioid overdoses numbers from the chief coroners reinforces the critical need for urgent action to address this crisis people suffering from addiction are often more likely to have contact with frontline responders it is vital that we make sure our police officers and firefighters have the tools they need to respond when they find someone in crisis when someone is overdosing minutes can make the difference between life and death that's why our government is making lifesaving naloxone available for free to each and every police and fire services across the province Mr. Speaker our firefighters and our first responders are essential partners in fighting the opioid crisis and we will continue working together to ensure that we continue in our communities Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of advanced education and skills development Ontario's community college students lost in a stork five weeks five weeks of class time due to the strike which the Liberal government could have resolved earlier but chose not to the impact has been devastating speaker for Ontario students it is a very difficult decision to drop out of their community colleges speaker will the minister of advanced education and skills development confirm today that approximately 25,000 students have dropped out due to the Liberal government's inaction to the strike Thank you Minister of advanced education and skills development Well thank you speaker and we will be confirming numbers very shortly we are collecting data from colleges to understand what that withdrawal rate was it really doesn't matter where you sit I can hear you the member from Leeds Grenville is warned speaker we thought it was important to give students the choice given the strike that they could either stay in and get caught up and complete their semester I'm happy to tell you that the vast majority of students have chosen to do that however for those who felt alright we want to play I win the member from Niagara South Clanbrook is warned I did think it was fair to students to give them the choice to make the decision that was right for them and if they chose to withdraw two weeks within two weeks after the strike their tuition would be fully refunded Thank you supplementary Back to the minister of advanced education speaker Ontario's community colleges have done everything they can do to encourage students to remain in school but the Liberal government as it did for five weeks five weeks speaker during the strike continues to sit on his hands for five weeks the premier let the strike drag on and now the Liberal government is delaying the release of the number of community college students who dropped out because the information damages them politically and terrians have the right speaker to know the consequences of the speaker's lack of leadership on the community college strike will the minister stop playing politics and confirm today that approximately 25,000 dropped out from the community colleges due to the Liberal government's inaction Thank you I have committed to releasing those numbers as soon as they are available speaker I reiterate that commitment today I tell you as the vast majority of students have stayed there will be a significant number of those who withdrew with tuition refund and without academic penalty who will be reenrolling in January or perhaps September depending on the program but if the member opposite is suggesting that we throw collective bargaining out the window that we just legislate back speaker he clearly needs to understand that by law we are not allowed to do that speaker we must let the collective bargaining process work we wanted to let that happen there is no question that the people who are most impacted by the strike were the students we talked about that all the time speaker and we have given them choices Thank you Thank you speaker my question is to the deputy premier last Friday morning December 8th there was a tragic collision on highway 11 two transports collided on the pan lake corner and our thoughts go out to the families of the deceased and what makes this even more tragic is on November 24th of last year on exactly the same corner another person in a transport lost their life what makes this even more tragic on December 12th 2012 again in the same place another life was lost and each time the highway is closed people in northern terraria are cut off because there is no detour people on the trans can are starting to be very afraid to drive when will the minister step in and ensure that winter maintenance in highway construction is done correctly to the minister of transportation thank you for the question I have had a chance to speak about this in the chamber over the last couple of days I have explained to him that I will ask the ministry in fact I have asked the ministry to go and take a look specifically at this particular section of highway 11 that as he points out on his question has had some challenges over the last couple of years so that is work and I will be happy to inform him and or the house once I have that update for him I will say over the last couple of years as it relates specifically to the winter maintenance program that the ministry runs we have continued to invest significantly in terms of the resources that are needed both in the north for our northern highways and also in the south we have more pieces of equipment out on our roads and highways including in northern Ontario than we have had certainly prior to the last three years we have been constantly working with our communities and working with our contractor partners to make sure that we have the appropriate resources to deploy and I will have more to say and follow up answer to this question thanks very much thank you speaker and since my discussion with the minister I have also had some time to do some research and according to the most recent statistics provided by the government in the 2014 Ontario Road Safety Annual Report the occupants of a vehicle registered to miss me are four times more likely to die in a collision than occupants of vehicles registered anywhere else in Ontario and that's because they have to drive on that road and that's why the government has to step in and look the towns the people that road is starting to be seen as a death trap and I don't say that lightly this is just one example we have to step in and actually do the right thing we don't have passenger trains we don't have LRTs we have one road and it needs to be safe minister now minister please you see it please minister thank you and I thank the member for his follow up question and I certainly respect not only his advocacy but for his passion which is obviously clear in the way that he's asked the question today I will say as I said in my opening answer our government continues to invest in our winter maintenance program including in northern Ontario it seems so notwithstanding what the member from Kitchener just said from the NDP caucus in fact the auditor did recognize last year that we have made substantial improvements in the program both in Kitchener and in the north of the province having said that I understand that our work is not yet done the members question ties in both highway construction and investments in the infrastructure and also the winter maintenance program I will also say as I believe all members know over the last number of years certainly in the last couple in particular the amount of money that we are investing in our northern highways program is unprecedented but we know that we have to continue to do more and in subsequent years through budgets presented by the minister of finance I have no doubt that we will continue to invest in this and other highways thank you thank you speaker my question is for the minister of children and youth services minister last thursday your ministry announced the details to some very important enhancements to the Ontario autism program or OAP I know our government has taken great care to consult with families in creating the OAP I also know that in my riding of Davenport I have spoken with many families and passed their feedback and concerns on to the minister my constituents have expressed a need for choice and consistency in the program many families have also expressed a need for a direct funding option I know there has been much work to provide families with a clear choice they have been asking for the choice between direct funding and direct service minister can you please share with this house the details of the new direct funding option thank you minister thank you minister speaker I want to thank the member from Davenport she is a strong advocate for families and for children here in the province of Ontario I had the opportunity to travel across the province and meet with families and meet with parents and talk to them about the autism program here in the province of Ontario I just want to take a moment to thank them for their feedback the member is right we heard a very clear message from families when having those discussions and to respond to those families we as a government are introducing direct funding options to families so beginning January 15th of next year in weeks from now we will increase the maximum hourly rate for service purchased through the OAP from $39 an hour to a maximum of up to $55 an hour we will communicate new qualifications for clinical supervisors that will be phased in we will also create an OAP provider list that will help families select a qualified OAP service provider in the spring and I have more in the supplemental thank you thank you speaker and thank you to the minister for listening to families I hope that all members of this house are supportive of parents' call for choice in the system and they are asked for a direct funding option there is no doubt that system transformation is a difficult undertaking and it can create a lot of confusion for families I have also heard from parents in my writing that when it comes to accessing autism services the system can be very difficult to navigate in the new Ontario Autism program how is your ministry going to ensure that parents are aware of the resources available to their families and are able to easily navigate the system thank you minister thank you Mr. Speaker so there are a number of changes that are coming to the program I want all families to experience a smooth and seamless transition into the new Ontario Autism program the new OAP has a single point of access in each of the nine service areas this will make it easier for families to access services contact numbers are available on my ministry website I'm also hosting Mr. Speaker two teletown halls one on January 11 at 7pm and again on January 17 at 7pm parents can ask questions and get direct answers from myself details of the teletown halls and the regional providers information are on the website Ontario.ca forward slash autism I hope that all members in this house are proud of this program and they share this information with their constituents thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. Deputy Premier according to community living Ontario there will be a 25% reduction in the number of hours for support for families with disabilities as a result of the government's changes to labour laws community living Ontario said and I quote ministry representatives have told our members not to expect any base budget increases so that means the people that stand to lose the most are people who have an intellectual or developmental disability families community agencies and their support workers I've spoken to many families struggling to find the services they need for their loved ones not one of them have said they can absorb a 25% reduction in service with a 25% cut looming and no help offered from you does the government expect families to fund this 25% wage gap themselves question to the minister of community and social services well thank you very much Mr. Speaker and certainly our ministry is committed to ensuring that frontline services are available to those with developmental disabilities and we are aware of some of the impacts of recent changes to our legislation in terms of bill 148 that are impacting those particular agencies we certainly heard from them my ministry's very aware we're looking at the figures that they have produced for us we're looking at them very carefully and I would assure the member that we will not see any contribution of any services for those adults with developmental disabilities I'm pleased that you are aware but the reality is ministry representatives have told community living to quote not expect any base budget increases families who rely on special services at home and direct funding know that the government's changes will limit their ability to give the loved ones the care they deserve Brampton call it in community living quote BCCL will be forced to make deep cuts to its services and labor force this will have a severe daily living consequences for extremely vulnerable people and their families in a letter sent to the premier Brampton call it in community living identified the annual cost to comply with the changes at 2.4 million dollars how does the government expect community living organizations and families to fund this 25% wage that's just one serve labor speaker thank you and certainly I do thank the member for the question prior to the introduction of bill 148 speaker and again the member thinks he can go to a different seat I will catch him the member from Prince Edward Hastings is warned minister thank you prior to the introduction of bill 148 speaker we consulted broadly with the business community and the profit sector with those people that provide services and even after speaker after the debate these carry over into the afternoon by the way speaker what became clear was the dedicated men and women that look after the most vulnerable in our society speaker sometimes needed to have their pay increased sometimes needed some better employment standard speaker these are the people that look after the most vulnerable speaker what we said is that we would increase in the province to $14 an hour and then to $15 an hour it would apply to them as well speaker the opposition party voted against this speaker they don't stand behind the people that look after the most vulnerable should be ashamed of themselves speaker before I turn to that I would just like to let people know there is never never not an opportunity for me to continue to warn even when we're at the end of question period point of order the minister of energy thank you Mr. Speaker I just like to correct my record Mr. Speaker in reference to a question from the member from Prince Edward Hastings in reference to the $32 million I used these are disputed costs between the ISO and the companies and the ISO's rules have changed we have a deferred vote on the motion of third reading of bill 174 an act to enact cannabis act 2017 in Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation Act 2017 and the Smoke Free Ontario Act 2017 to repeal two acts and to make amendments to the Highway Traffic Act respecting alcohol, drugs and other matters call on the members this will be a five minute vote what all members please take their seats on December the 11 2017 Mr. Nack we moved third reading of bill 174 an act to enact cannabis act 2017 in the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation Act 2017 and the Smoke Free Ontario Act 2017 and to repeal two acts and to make amendments to the Highway Traffic Act respecting alcohol, drugs and other matters all those of favour please rise one at a time be recognized by the clerk Mr. Nack Mr. Bradley Mr. Del Duca Mr. Sandoz Mr. Haskins Mr. Shirelli Mr. Shirelli Mr. McMeek Mr. Cole Mr. Dillon Mr. Ballard Mr. Koto Mr. Hunter Mr. Flann Mr. Tebow Mr. Crack Mr. Domela Mr. McGarry Mr. Zimmer Mr. Nidu Harris Mr. McMan Mr. Milch Mr. Frazer Mr. Baker Mr. Hoga Mr. Mark Mr. Pot Mr. Rinaldi Mr. Natashack Mr. Horvath Mr. Vantah Mr. DeNovo Mr. Tavis Mr. Taylor Mr. Armstrong Mr. Hathfield Mr. Gretzky Mr. Gates Mr. French Mr. Harry Mr. Hardiman Mr. Wilson Mr. Brown Mr. Clark Mr. Fidelli Mr. Yacobusky Mr. Miller Mr. Thompson Mr. Barrett Mr. Yurek Mr. Smith Mr. Bailey Mr. Romano Mr. McLaren The ayes are 63 the nays are 27 The ayes being 63 The nays being 27 I declare the motion carried We are resolved that the bill do now pass and be entitled as in the motion We have a deferred vote on the motion of third reading of bill 160 an act to amend repeal and enact various acts in the interest of strengthening quality and accountability of patients calling the members this will be a 5 minute bill On December 7th, 2017 Mr. Barrett moved third reading of bill 160 an act to amend repeal and enact various acts in the interest of strengthening quality and accountability for patients all those in favor please rise one at a time to be recognized by the clerk Mr. Hoss Mr. Hoss Mr. Sander Mr. Sousa Mr. Shirelli Mr. Dugas Mr. Mcmeek Mr. Cole Mr. Coteau Mr. Flay Mr. Tebow Mr. Dixon Mr. Manga Mr. Crack Mr. McGarry Mr. Zimmer Mr. Mcman Mr. Milch Mr. Fraser Mr. Baker Mr. Hogan Mr. Molley Mr. Rinaldi Mr. Runeo All those opposed please rise one at a time to be recognized by the clerk Mr. Urna Mr. Hardim Mr. McLeod Mr. Wilson Mr. Brown Mr. Clark Mr. Fidelli Mr. Yacobus Mr. Hillier Mr. Miller Perry Mr. Nichols Mr. Marteau Mr. McDonnell Mr. Cove Mr. Cho Mr. Bisson Mr. Horvath Mr. Danovo Mr. Tavins Mr. Taylor Mr. Natasha Mr. Armstrong Mr. Gretzky Mr. Gates Mr. Scarlett Mr. DRACE Mr. BONG Mr. BAYER Mr. HAN Mr. MYE Mr. GARB Mr. BALL in the nays being 32 I declare the motion carried there oh mr. Morrill mr. Morrill has moved third reading of bill 139 an act to enact the local planning appeal tribunal act 2017 and the local planning appeal support center act 2017 and to amend the planning act and the conservation authorities act with various other acts is the pleasure house motion carry I heard a no those in favor please say aye those opposed please say nay in my opinion the eyes have it call them the members this will be a five minute bill mr. Morrill has moved third reading of bill 139 an act to enact a local planning appeal tribunal act 2017 and the local planning appeal support center act 2017 and to amend the planning act conservation authorities act and various other acts all those in favor please rise one at a time be armstrong this fight this fight this forester mr. Gretzky mr. Gretzky mr. Gates mr. Gates this French this French all those opposed please rise one at a time you're recognized by the clerk mr. McLaren mr. McLaren the eyes are 87 the nays are one the eyes being 87 the nays being one I declare the motion carried third reading of the bill twice I'm lectured you project a lot you resolve that the building now passing the entitlement motion there are no further deferred votes this house stands recess until 3 p.m. this afternoon