 Therefore, it's now time for Question Period, the leader of Her Majesty's Royal Opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. On April 19th, the Minister of Finance stood in the legislature and said that hydro rates are going down. But yesterday, everyone's hydro rates went up. So my question, Mr. Speaker, to the Minister of Finance, is is he willing to stand the legislature again and say that his hydro rates are going down? Mr. Speaker, what I reference the member opposite knows all too well, that investments were made by our government to the tune of over $30 billion to ensure that we have a greater integrity and ensure that we have stability in our grid. And furthermore, we eliminated dirty coal from our emissions in our province. 90% of our emissions are now free of carbon dioxide. And the member opposite knows that all too well and knows to come at a cost and a cost to ensure that our future is protected and that we become more competitive going forward. He knows that our long-term plan had estimated much higher fees and that has not occurred. And he knows also that the reason that we are going is we're going to ensure that going forward we can take to provide that integrity in our grid and provide further stimulus in our economy. And that has been happening, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, again to the Minister of Finance, the question was the Minister of Finance made a contention his hydro rates were going down. That is not happening anywhere else in the province. So the question is, what special deal does the Minister of Finance have that just his hydro rates are going down? Because of the latest increase, everyone on Tarot's rate is going to go up $70. And I realize it's part of their talking points to talk about coal despite the fact the phaseout started under the Progressive Conservatives. So instead of talking about this. Start the clock. Thank you. Finish please. So Mr. Speaker, instead of answering a different question a very simple straightforward question to the Minister of Finance. You said your hydro rates were going down. Are you willing to make that claim again today? I do expect on Tarot's to believe that because I certainly don't. Thank you. Get it out now because I'm going to tighten up. Minister. The legacy of the Progressive Conservative Party of the past were blackouts in this province Mr. Speaker and continued ground legacy of tremendous debt because of the mismanagement of the electricity system that we are only now staying off completely. And Mr. Speaker, furthermore, we have now invested and Finish please, Minister. We have invested more than 15,000 kilometers of transmission and local distribution across our province that distance one and a half times from coast to coast of Canada Mr. Speaker and anyone who's promising you now that they're going to reduce rates is not telling you the truth. In the end Mr. Speaker. One sentence wrap up. Mr. Speaker. Once again to the Minister of Finance. The drive by smear on cold didn't work in Whitby Oshawa because there was no truth to it. Now back to the question and back the hydro rates that everyone in Ontario sees as going up except for the Minister of Finance. Now let me give you an example. Last week I was in Thunder Bay meeting with Mayor and Councilors from Northwestern Ontario communities. I would note that in 2015 the Federation of Northern Municipalities passed a resolution calling for lower hydro rates as it's been disastrous on the north. Resolute forestry where I tour told me they have to shut down parts of their plant every day during peak rate periods to keep their costs down. I guess they don't get the Charles Sousa special. So Mr. Speaker, when will this government stop turning their back on Northern Ontario? Mr. Speaker, when will this really have energy policies that don't cripple Northern Ontario? Remind all members we use each other's titles and or writings in this House. Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the statement that the Leader of the Opposition was referring to is a statement that in our 2013 long-term energy plan we had certain projected prices and what the Minister of Finance said is we're coming well below those projected prices. We're reducing from what we were projecting Mr. Speaker but I do want to thank the member. I want to thank the member for supporting our nuclear refurbishment program because the nuclear refurbishment program over the next 30 years Mr. Speaker will put into the grid electricity price at 7.7 cents per kilowatt hour on average Mr. Speaker and it will be clean energy Mr. Speaker. He doesn't mention that the recent wind prices came in Mr. Speaker at 8.5 cents on average per kilowatt hour Mr. Speaker. Okay. I'm going to ramp it up since you are. We're going to move to warnings. Finish please. Mr. Speaker, the recent wind prices came in less than the average price of electricity in the grid Mr. Speaker at 8.5 cents and for Northern Ontario Northern Ontario industrial prices are the third lowest in North America better than all the Canadian provinces better than all the U.S. states. Do you want to see them look like look online and you'll see all the. Thank you. When I stand you sit. In case you didn't hear when it was really quiet I said we're moving to warnings. The shouting is going to stop. New question. Leader of the opposition. Mr. Speaker May 1st was a sad day for Ontario. The IBI treatment for autistic children 5 and over is no longer available because of this government's callousness. My question is for the Minister of Finance. Let me share a story of a letter I got from 7-year-old Warren and his family from Bailey Borough. He was diagnosed with autism at age of 3. His parents immediately registered Warren for IBI therapy. About one month ago Warren's parents were notified that Warren was 7th on the waiting list for IBI treatment. They were elated. Unfortunately, because of this government's decision the rug has been pulled underneath of this family and Warren. It's not right. Mr. Speaker after so many years on the waiting list why is this government proceeding with this devastating cuts that takes away IBI treatment from Warren and his family? We know how much the Minister was upset. Why did the Minister of Finance allow this cut in his budget? Minister of Children and Youth Services, Mr. Speaker. Minister of Children and Youth Services. Thank you, Speaker. I want to thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. It's very important to acknowledge that we are not removing kids from service. In fact, we are taking those kids who are waiting for IBI who are over 5, who are not in the right development to Wendell and putting them into immediate service speaker $333 million new dollars, 16,000 new spaces. I acknowledge it's a shift. I acknowledge it's a transition. I and many of my colleagues and I believe members of the opposition have been meeting with families and I've made sure that everyone in the legislature has all the facts that they understand the step-by-step process by which this transformation will take place and that the new autism program will provide longer, more intense services and will be tailored to the individual needs of the child. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance because this is his cut. You know, when the government cuts the service, they say it's a shift. It's a transforming... The Minister of Energy is Warren, Leader. Mr. Speaker, it appears we have struck a nerve. We're decoding their language. A shift is their word for a cut. A transformation is their word for a cut. And they like to say, sure, they're taking away IBI treatment, but they have enhanced ABA. Well, I'll do it. The Deputy Minister of Finance is Warren. Mr. Speaker, they say they have enhanced ABA, but we now learn from the regional service providers there is no such thing as enhanced ABA. There is no enhanced treatment for Warren. He's been kicked off the wait list and given a check that will only cover a few months of treatment. Warren and his family deserve better from this government. So my question is directly to the Minister of Finance. Autism doesn't end at five. Do you agree with that fundamental concept? Yes or no? Mr. Speaker, please. The member from Stormont Dundas and South Glangaria is Warren. Minister. Well, Speaker, of course we agree that autism doesn't end at five. And I'm very concerned about the opposition positioning this investment of $333 million as a cut. Speaker, we have 16,000 new spaces that will be provided. And children who are currently receiving ABA, I will continue to receive that. And guess who will be determining what their transition is? Experts at their next six-month checkup. And Speaker, I think it's important to acknowledge that there are stakeholders who support this change. So Leslie Sweet, the Chair of Regional Autism Providers of Ontario says we're very excited about this historic investment and what it means for children and youth who have autism and for their families. More families will receive the right service at the right time. And Suzanne Jacobson, founder of Quick Start Early Intervention Autism Program, said parents spoke and they were heard. The right service at the right time. Individualized, expanded and timely services will be life-changing. We applaud the Ontario Government's investment of $33 million. Mr. Speaker, once again for the Minister of Finance. You know, the government's backbench just seemed to share the government's callous disregard to what this means for families with autism. You know, on Twitter last week, the member from Beaches East York called the parents of autistic children bullies. These are parents that are frustrated with the province because they can't get the treatment they need. Mr. Speaker, first the Liberal government took people like Warren's parents to court. Now they're kicking kids like Warren off the wait list. When will the government stop their war on autistic children and parents who love them? It's not the right thing, correct? Minister? Well, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to know when the Leader Opposition would stop using the wrong terminologies about kicking kids off lists. That implies they're not getting support. They are getting immediate support. Those children he's talking about will go to immediate service. It is fear of mongering, and I'm very concerned because this does affect families, and I appreciate that, Speaker, but it doesn't help, quite frankly, when the Opposition isn't communicating. Finish Minister, please. And it would also be helpful, Speaker, if the Opposition talked about what this will do for the children on wait lists he speaks about. We will reduce wait lists for autistic children by half in two years. That's why 2020. So, Speaker, I just wish you Opposition would get the facts. His credit has had the briefing, and it's important they convey the facts during this time of transition. Thank you. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question is to the Acting Premier. The Premier created a scandal with her system of secret fundraising quotas. Can the Acting Premier tell Ontarians which Minister had the quota for raising $430,000 from Greenfield Specialty Alcohol and which Ministers are responsible for $160 million in Liberal government support back to Greenfield, Speaker. Thank you. Mr. Finance. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Finance. There's two questions there. One is the degree of investments that we're making to grow our agricultural industry in supporting rural Ontario, which is critical. We recognize that ethanol and our growth in ethanol will help the industry as well as move us into the low-carbon economy. And of course, the selection process in that is very non-partisan and the Ministry of Vision is the ones that evaluate the companies and it goes through a four-step competitive due diligence. But Mr. Speaker, the member opposite also talks about fundraising activities. And I think the leader of the third party who's strongly defending her secret Union-backed-shell corporation is clear as to why the NDP have not decided to act on the reforms that we're putting forward, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Secretary. Speaker, increasingly Ontarians are concerned that this government and this premier have manipulated and abused the rules around political fundraising beyond anything that we have seen in the past. And now this premier says just trust me when I rewrite the rules on my own and use my majority to pass them. Speaker, it is simply not credible. When will this premier and this liberal government realize that the rules on how parties and elections are financed rather must be seen as credible by the people and agree to put aside her partisan process? Mr. Speaker, credibility is exactly what's in question here from the member of the third party. They obviously are stuck in process because they want to delay further the reforms that are necessary to meet the very demands of the public and we recognize that. So our question to the leader of the opposition is do you believe that we need to reform third-party advertising? Do you believe that we need to ban corporate and union donations? Do you believe that we need to reduce the maximum amount of those donations and do you believe that we need to have the constraints necessary on loans and loan guarantees and phantom landowners, Mr. Speaker? And do you believe that that reform on bi-elections are also important? Do you believe that we need an overall reduction in our spending limits by central parties in election periods and limits between those elections? Mr. Speaker, do you believe that we need new leadership and a nomination campaign spending limits on those donation opportunities during those campaigns? I believe consensus around this room and certainly outside this legislature believes we do and that's what we're putting forward and we expect The government has spent the last week or more attempting to smear anyone who wants an open, transparent panel to make new election rules and in fact democracy watch newspaper editorial boards the Green Party of Ontario the official opposition and the NDP are somehow all trying to delay yet when given multiple multiple opportunities to move forward on a fast-moving independent process that we report back to this legislature by the end of September the Premier and her government have repeatedly simply said no. The real question is why is the Liberal Party of Ontario on a partisan process that they control? Mr. Speaker the real question is why aren't we moving on the legislation before this Democratic House that is the place to do our business and it does require public comment, it does have debate it is a democratic process the real question is why is the member of the third party the leader of the third party for union backed shell corporations why are they continuing to throw up load blocks in the process what we need is action Mr. Speaker we're prepared to act now New question leader of the third party Thank you so much Mr. Speaker my second question is also for the acting Premier since January Ontario has lost 800 full and part time nurses that's nearly 200 per month Speaker when will the Liberal government stop firing nurses Minister of Finance Mr. Speaker I know the Minister of Health will want to respond to this but it's important to recognize that we are investing more let me be clear the opposition continues to make disingenuous claims about our health care system in reality withdraw I withdraw Mr. Speaker the opposition fails to tell what is in fact the facts the reality is that we've increased hospital funding by 53% since 2003 from $11 billion to $17.3 billion and we're increasing funding for every single hospital in Ontario this year this is part of our budget proposal of $1 billion in increase to health care funding and we'll continue to invest in hospitals and we must recognize that we're moving toward the system where more services are delivered at home and in the community Mr. Speaker the NDP voted against these very measures they voted against an additional 270 million for home and community care they voted against 75 million for community based hospice and palliative care and they voted against 85 million for community health centers we're investing more Mr. Speaker yes in fact speaker we did vote against a terrible austerity budget and we're proud of it people in Aurelia have learned that 16 beds at Aurelia Soldiers Memorial Hospital will be closed and the hospital is losing 35 full time equivalent staff they're losing 7 full time RNs 4 part time RNs and a nurse practitioner and the CEO says this speaker and I quote on the heels of a 4 year funding freeze and only a modest increase to base funding for 2016-17 it's increasingly difficult and quote when will the Liberal government stop cutting hospital speaker Minister of Health Well thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you I appreciate the question from the leader of the third party because it allows me to set the record straight when it comes to Soldiers Memorial and we're investing an additional 1.3 million dollars in that hospital this year but let's hear what else the CEO of that hospital said she actually said and it was based on there's a rehabilitation alliance the rehabilitative care alliance which is a provincial wide body and they're making changes which are in accordance to and in fact recommended by that alliance so the major budget initiative in fact is a bed restructuring plan that will see the establishment of a newly designed program to enhance care for patients this is quoting the CEO requiring post acute rehabilitation services and medical care to develop this new model of care the hospital has withdrawn from the regional continuing complex care program but relocating other beds from within the hospital to the new unit to be established on the fourth floor Mr. Speaker supplementary we're going to rehabilitate the entire hospital system after this liberal government gets finished with it hospitals, healthcare workers in Windsor hospitals healthcare workers right now know that their cuts are coming the situation has gotten so bad the nurses are getting second jobs and some are leaving in advance because they're so worried about the layoff notices that are coming they're so stressed about the impending layoff notices that they're actually leaving their jobs before the pink slip hits them that's bad for nurses but it's also bad for patients when will this liberal government start putting patients first and stop cutting hospitals and firing nurses so Mr. Speaker every single indicator that we have with reference to our nurses at the NDP of course fired thousands of nurses when they were in power in the 1990s registered nurses since 2003 at 12.8% increase nurse practitioners at 312% increase in the number of nurse practitioners practicing in the province registered practical nurses a 45% increase Mr. Speaker every single measure that we have and these are independent figures and statistics from the college that demonstrates this government's commitment to continue to hire nurses to provide that important exceptional front line care that they do each and every single day thank you new question new question member from Perth Wellington thank you Speaker my question is to the Minister of Community and Social Services the minister was asked if she knew about the problem with SAMS before it was launched the minister said nobody told me I admit that just wasn't true and will she apologize to the people of Ontario Mr. Speaker thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I think I've acknowledged many times in this house that SAMS did not roll out the way it should have no one's denying this but let's be clear about what we're talking about a memo was released it was written by the project manager for SAMS and it was addressed to the researchers out in the field and I would like to read that memo in its entirety what he said on November the first was I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that there have been significant challenges both with the development of the solution and with site readiness however this was not unexpected in such a large and complex modernization initiative and in every instance we have worked together to overcome these challenges precisely the type of information that was applied upon to roll out SAMS in November of thank you Mr. Speaker supplementary thank you Speaker unfortunately I didn't hear an apology when the minister said nobody told me that wasn't true plain and simple on November 1st the minister received a memo from the SAMS team leader which said the system faced significant challenges I get the message withdraw please okay the system was faced with significant challenges that means she had time to stop the release of SAMS before the damage was done instead she assured everyone that she was confident SAMS would have a seamless roll out the following week in previous governments a scandal like this would have triggered resignations as anyone in this government accepted consequences for such a monumental screw up anyone at all because this minister hasn't I'd like to reiterate that the memo in question was sent not to me but to administrators in the field and what I'd like to point out the member from Renfrew Nipissing Kenbrook is warned finish please so I'm wondering if the member opposite is suggesting that he would have pushed the legislation based on knowing there were challenges that had been overcome having said that Mr. Speaker we know that challenges did exist with the roll out and I have accepted the responsibility for that I started staff working groups frontline working groups we hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to assist us in a third party evaluation of what needed to be done and we have now fixed 100% of the priority issues identified by the front lines and 95% of the defects identified in the Thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question is to the Attorney General when it comes to police accountability transparency and accountability and oversight this government has been all over the place on this file and it's really done a disservice to not only the people of Ontario but also to the world and a lot more time on this and you know the other side of it transparency is vital to maintaining public trust in the administration of justice and justice system first the Attorney General took 30 days to read a report that only she could read then while the premier made some promising remarks about releasing the report four pages and one of those pages is blank. The pages that are released are heavily redacted and in fact the public is left with more questions rather than answers. Why does the government continue to disrespect Ontarians and discourage transparency by turn after turn? Thank you Mr Speaker. I want to thank the member from the third party for his very important question. As I said you know our government is very committed to effective and fair civilian oversight of the police. We are aware that there are concerns about transparency and accountability in the current police oversight so the time has come Mr. Speaker to look critically at how this system is working so that's why last week we have appointed the Honourable Michael Tullop who is from the Appeal Court of Ontario to lead an independent review of three agencies that oversee police conduct in Ontario. He has been asked to provide the government with the recommendation on ways to enhance the transparency and accountability of the provinces and police oversight bodies and today I want to thank him to accept and to take this very challenging review. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker while you Democrats welcome this commission and welcome the appointment of Justice Tullop that doesn't answer the question of transparency. The government likes to talk about transparency time and time again but when it comes to it the government does not act on that. The government has failed to act on delivering true transparency. The community has raised a number of concerns around the circumstance of Mr. Locu's death but the government has an opportunity to provide the transparency. They like to talk about it but again they haven't delivered on it. The public have questions. Mr. Andrew Locu's family have questions. This government can provide the answers. Will the government commit today to releasing a fulsome report understanding the concerns around privacy but release a report that actually answers the questions that the community has. Thank you. Mr. Speaker this SIU process is an existence since 1990 and I'll remind the member from the opposite when they were in power they did not release any of the SIU report. So we have asked Justice Tullop to prioritize making a recommendation as to how information in SIU reports could be made public in the future. He will also prioritize looking at whether past SIU report should be made public and the form this information would take. The government is expect to receive these prioritized recommendation in the coming months. Justice Tullop will conduct broad public consultation including conversation with police community, Black Lives Matter and a variety of municipal and community leader. So I'm confident that through this review process we will create a more transparent approach to police oversight that has the confidence of both the police and the public. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Finance. Each year the four credit rating agencies assess the provinces fiscal and economic plan following the release of the budget and their assessment provides an independent analysis and assessment which they communicate through their rating and outlook for the province. And Mr. Speaker the results are in for the first of the four credit rating agencies as Moody's made their assessment public last week. So can the Minister please inform this House on the status of Moody's rating and what this means for our government's record on fiscal prudence. Thank you Mr. Finance. Thank you Mr. Speaker. And I'd like to thank the member from the Tobacco Lakes for the question. Who's quite right following a thorough review of our government's economic and fiscal plan Moody's recently announced an improvement of the province's rating. Moody's outlook reflects its confidence in our government's plan to grow Ontario's economy and create jobs for Ontario. The member is also correct in saying that Moody's is the first other rating agency to release its rating. Our government values the input of third-party analysis as an important checkpoint ensuring that our fiscal plan is credible, reliable and transparent Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. Speaker. I'm pleased to hear of the improvement to our government's outlook by Moody's and know that this is a result of the of a credible fiscal plan and the hard work that the Minister of Finance has done. As the press release by Moody's stated the stable outlook on the province of Ontario's ratings reflects our opinion that the province has presented a budget plan with little risk that the debt burden will exceed recent levels. They also forecast Ontario's debt to fall across the medium term as importantly for interest expense to remain manageable as well. Mr. Speaker it sounds to me like our government is doing a great job at coming to balance in a way that it's fair and responsible and can the Minister of Finance please inform this House about the status of our fiscal plan and provide some insight into why Moody's made this change. Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you again to the member for allowing me the opportunity to speak about our fiscal plan and the improvement of our outlook which was by the way well received by many investors around the world. It was recently affirmed in a 2016 budget that our government remains on track to eliminate the deficit by 2017-18 and remain in balance by 2018-19. By continuing to beat our fiscal targets Ontario's accumulated deficit is $30 billion lower than otherwise would have been and across the board private sector economists are forecasting Ontario's economy to be among the top two growth leaders in Canada and we will continue to reduce the deficit through a fair and balanced approach Mr. Speaker. We continue to implement our plan to balance the budget, grow the economy, create jobs and Ontario's will continue to see measurable results as already seen around the world who value the work that we've done here in Ontario. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question is to the Minister of Energy. The minister will know that hydro went rates went up again yesterday. May 1st hydro rates went up and the latest line unbelievable line from the government is that the increases are due to the fact that people didn't use enough electricity. So in this liberal energy system people are penalized when it's a cold winter, they are penalized when it's a warm winter and they are punished even more when they can serve electricity. Will the minister finally admit that the people skyrocketing energy rates are not a result of weather but the colossal mismanagement of Ontario's electricity system under your his guidance and will he commit to a real plan to stop abusing Ontarians with skyrocketing hydro rates. The member is correct that there was a 2.5% increase Mr. Speaker and as I said last week Mr. Speaker and the week before Mr. Speaker the member ignores the fact that if you look at comparisons to other provinces BC hydro rates increased by 4% on April 1st 2016. Saskatchewan power rates approved an increase of 5% throughout 2015 Mr. Speaker Manitoba hydro applied for a rate increase of 3.95% as of April 1st 2016 Mr. Speaker and Newfoundland power applied for a rate increase of 3.6% for residential customers as of July 1st 2016 and as I said earlier today Mr. Speaker Northern Ontario has the lowest industrial rates third lowest industrial rates in North America Mr. Speaker. Thank you supplementary. The minister has to stop with the numbers games covex hydro rates could go up 300% and they still be lower than ours you know stop with the numbers game because you are inflicting real pain on Ontario family. Are you gentlemen in my constituency office on Friday who said this hydro fiasco that you've created here is tearing families apart I spoke to a woman yesterday in my constituency works at a food bank in Eganville she said 30% increase at the food bank they ran out and when you talk to people and ask them why they're at the food bank it's because they have to make a choice if we pay our hydro bill we can't afford the food that's what you've done here in the province will you show some compassion and stop going down the disastrous road that you built for Ontario family. Thank you minister. The member knows that we've created a number of significant programs Mr. Speaker to help consumers including removal of debt retirement charge at the beginning of the year Mr. Speaker we've created the Ontario electricity support program Mr. Speaker for low and modest income families that would save them an additional $360 per year off their bills or $430 when combined with the removal of the debt retirement charge but I do want to thank the Conservative Party again Mr. Speaker for supporting our nuclear refurbishment program which sees over the next 30 years Mr. Speaker an average price of 7.7 cents per kilowatt hour Mr. Speaker some people here have W's. Mr. Speaker thanking the Conservative Party for supporting our initiative that in nuclear refurbishment which shows 7.7 cents per kilowatt hour Mr. Speaker on average over the next 30 years and that is clean energy Mr. Speaker we're taking a lot of other steps Mr. Speaker to reduce the cost of electricity including the new price of wind Mr. Speaker which is comparable to the rest of the generation. Thank you. Your question to the member from Tenants James today. My questions to the minister of transportation minister you will note because I'm sure your staff watches this that about a week ago there was a 26 cent per liter difference on the price of gas from southern to northern Ontario and within northern Ontario there was a 10 cent a liter difference between Kirkland Lake and Timmins. The question is very simple one is this minister in this government going to get on side and do what we've been asking and what municipalities across the north have been asking and that is to either get these gas companies to stop gouging the public if not regulate the price of gas. Well thanks very much Mr. Speaker I want to begin by thanking the member opposite for the question I'm happy to take that one back have a conversation with the member offline of course you would know cutting across all of the activity that this government does thanks not only to the premier but of course to members like the minister of northern development mines the minister of government and consumer services the minister of natural resources and forestry and also the member from Sudbury you know that this is a government that for 13 years has worked very hard on a determined fashion to make sure that northern Ontarians have a bright and prosperous future that the quality of life for northern ontarios continues to improve speaker including in budget 2016 of course a number for example speaker from the ministry of transportation a number of initiatives on the infrastructure front to support highway expansion roads bridges and so much more for all of northern Ontario speaker for 13 years thanks to this Ontario Liberal government we have moved the yardsticks forward for Ontario and because of our leadership speaker unlike the NDP we'll continue to get the job done Mr. Speaker as my colleague would just saying we've gone from question period to comedy hour this government is the same government who got rid of the Ontario Northland the only train that we have in northern Ontario this is a government who has driven the price of electricity through the roof to the point that residents in industry can't afford it and now i'm asking him the question about the price of gas how could it be that gas companies are able to charge a 26 cents per liter difference for gasoline across this province if you can sell a case of beer in canora for the same price you sell it in downtown Toronto how is it that you're going to have a 26 cent a liter difference on the price of gas i ask you again are you prepared to step in and get these guys under control and if not regulate them Mr. Speaker i think the member knows that the regulation of the price of gasoline is federal responsibility under the competition act Mr. Speaker and i think if he wants he knows he's talking about he's talking about a differential in price so does he want the same price does he want price control if he wants price control tell him he wants price control okay we know what happens when you have price control the provinces who have tried to regulate Mr. Speaker have seen their prices stay the same as the other provinces or they went up Mr. Speaker because of the cost of administrating the price control they're trying to implement speaker thank you any question the member from Ottawa or Leone thank you Mr. President my question is to the minister of community safety and correctional services minister we all know that sexual violence has a devastating impact on the lives of survivors and their families as a member of the select committee on sexual violence and harassment i heard many touching personal accounts of this kind of violence speaker it was clear to me that we as a province need to do more to eliminate sexual violence and harassment right across Ontario but because crimes of sexual violence and harassment are the most unreported in our province it is imperative that we improve the experience of survivors who come forward to report these crimes through better tools and training for our police and law enforcement officials minister i was pleased to join you in Ottawa in February when you announced the funding of six research project at post secondary institution across the province question dedicated to improving how police responds so through you to the minister to to you to the mr. Speaker would the minister please explain how he is addressing this very very real and pressing gap thank you thank you very much speaker and i thank the member from Ottawa early on for her work along with other members on the select committee on sexual violence and harassment speaker speaker sexual violence and harassment is something that is far too prevalent in our communities and something that will cannot be tolerated that is why speaker i was very happy to join the member from Ottawa early on in February to announce that we're investing three hundred and seventy five thousand dollars to support six research projects at post-secondary institutions across the province to provide our police and law enforcement officials with the tools and training they need in order to best support survivors of these terrible crimes this research is about identifying best practices based on evidence it is about supporting an even more compassionate and sensitive approach from law enforcement it is about learning and implementing best practices and to encourage more survivors to report sexual violence and continue to improve how police respond to and investigate cases of sexual violence thank you supplementary thank you mr. speaker and thank you to the minister for that answer i am glad to hear that you're taking concrete steps to better support survivors of sexual violence and harassment and improved training for the police to respond to these crimes while this research will be important in addressing this issue we must also recognize that ingenious women are disproportionately likely to experience violence in fact they are three times as likely compared to other women in canada our first nation partners have told us that there has always been a gap in the justice system so as we move forward to eliminate sexual violence from our communities we cannot lose sight of the indigenous women who need our help the most that means that we must work to develop a more compassionate sensitive and culturally appropriate response for law enforcement when dealing with sexual violence against indigenous women while encouraging more survivors to report so mr. speaker through you with the minister please explain what our government is doing to identify the gaps and best practice to help indigenous women across Ontario thank you uh speaker speaker it is it is unfortunate that indigenous women are disproportionately likely to experience violence and as the member stated that in fact there are three times as likely to be impacted by compared to other women in canada speaker this must change that is why last month along with the minister responsible for women's issues and the minister of aboriginal affairs i announced that we're providing over $250,000 to support research that will specifically draw on the lived experiences of indigenous survivors of sexual violence these research projects will build on the walking together ontarius long-term strategy to end violence against indigenous women and speaker are it's never okay action plan they will examine how police respond to and investigate these crimes and it is my hope that this research will show us how to improve supports and empower indigenous survivors speaker this is how our government is working to identify the gaps and best practices so we can develop tools to improve police responses and investigations to help indigenous women across the province thank you new question member from uh Bruce Taylor south thank you very much mr speaker my question is for the minister of education this government promised to improve the quality of education in the classroom but it isn't happening it's clear that ever since the liberals fast-tracked the reviews of school closings to 10 weeks from seven months communities are literally being torn apart am i writing five schools are closing oscdi alumni parents and students have appealed to the minister to step in and review the decision a call that's supported by over 2100 petitioners mr speaker these constituents want to know will the minister support a one-year moratorium on the decision and allow the community the students in all stakeholder groups to consult on the proposal to close oscbi thank you minister of education yes and uh i'm quite happy to comment on blue water district school board which is about what the issue is about um actually we had a really interesting event on friday in meford uh where the blue water board had in fact used the new actually expedited art process as a result of that expedited art process they will be closing two of their existing elementary schools they will be closing a an older high school as well and we actually announced that they will be receiving 24 million dollars in the small community of meford to in order to build a new 1000 jk to 12 schools to consolidate all three of those schools the community including the demer was absolutely delighted supplementary it's unfortunate mr speaker that the minister didn't have the decency to invite the representative of that writing to that despite promising to address the funding for me in the past two elections it appears the minister is indifferent to the predicament they're creating and the impact of school closures on people in their communities you'd never do that this attitude runs parallel to their waste and mismanagement pattern the same one that's led the government to cut back and funding essential public services such as education and health care minister you control the purse strings you set the rules of the funding for it you said you would change it a bustle of constituents will be arriving any minute and they want assurances from you that you'll do the right thing mr speaker i ask again through you will the minister agree to review this decision to ensure the students best interests are served at the end of the day but this government and not about meford school that's about the oscvi school thank you very much and as as i did comment to the reporters from own sound on friday we need to sort out the process here is that it actually with under the education act falls within the jurisdiction of school boards not the minister of education to make decisions about accommodation that in fact the the the the boards are charged with that responsibility but i would like to point out speaker that i am the minister of education not the minister of schools and my primary focus is to make sure that students receive good programming and what we know in secondary schools is that when there's a critical mass of students that the board has the opportunity to provide a broader of programs for the students that they can provide better quality programming and that actually is my job to make sure students receive thank you your question the leader of the third party thank you very much speaker my questions for the acting premier throughout its history ttc fares in toronto have been based on the simple principle that every torontonian deserves equal access to their transit system regardless of their income and regardless of where they live but now metro links is quietly working on a fair integration plan that could force people living in scarborough atobicoke and north york to pay a higher fare for a subway ride than people living downtown will the liberal government guarantee that metro links will not force people living in scarborough to pay more to ride the subway thanks very much the speaker i want to thank the leader of the ndp for the question of course as everyone should know by now the folks at metro links who are doing an exceptional job are working hard to liaise with all of our municipal transit systems around the greater toronto and hamilton area to make sure that collectively speaker we can deliver on fair integration for this region i think anyone who moves around the greater toronto and hamilton area would recognize and certainly i hear it loud and clear from my own constituents in york region that we need to make sure in order to support the unprecedented transit investments that this government is making that we need a fair integration system across this entire region that works seamlessly that is that makes transit more accessible more affordable more reliable more dependable for the people of the entire region and that's the work that metro links is embarking upon in conjunction with all of our municipal transit systems they'll keep working hard speaker to make sure that we can get it right thank you very much well speaker in fact what metro links has been quietly doing is designing a fair integration plan that could force the ttc to become a zone based system that divides torontonians based on where they live so years from now people in scarborough might get a new subway but then find out that they can only afford to ride the bus will the liberal government guarantee that there will be no fair zones within toronto and that metro links will not force the ttc to charge higher fares for subway riders thanks very much thanks very much speaker i guess only the leader of ontario's ndp would think somehow that after months of open conversations after months in which every single board meeting has a public portion speaker only the leader of ontario's ndp would think that this is somehow hidden it's a conversation that's been ongoing it's part of my mandate letter which of course speaker she should know for the first time in ontario's history our mandate letters were were posted publicly at the time that we received them speaker i think what's also perhaps the reason that the leader of the ndp is mistaken about how supposedly hidden this effort is speaker is that because while we are investing in transit through budget after budget after budget that leader the ndp caucus continue to vote against them they are obviously more focused on petty partisan politics in scarborough instead of being focused on making sure that they support the transit investments needed to deliver the seamless integrated transit network the people of this region and the people of scarborough deserve thank you speaker my questions for the minister problem long-term care tooth decay is one of the most prevalent yet preventable chronic disease particularly among children is a leading cause of state surgery for those ages one to five research shows that treated oral health problems can affect children's ability to eat sleep and focus in my writing of scarborough agent court is not unusual to see children whose growth and development is impacted by poor oral health there is unacceptable disparity in health outcomes between lower and highest social economic individuals in this province is true to health then to health as well speaker three to the minister health and long-term care can he please inform the house what the government is doing to ensure that children my writing of scarborough agent court and across ontario receive proper dental health they deserve thank you minister of health long-term care thank you mr speaker and i have to say it was great being with the member from scarborough agent court and many of her npp colleagues from durham and scarborough last week when we announced a 20 million dollar investment to diagnostic imaging at scarborough hospital and a five million dollar planning grant as well for both durham and scarborough regions but as the minister of health and as a parent i want to see all children grow up to be healthy and live healthy lives and the family income level should not be a barrier to that that's why i was pleased last week to announce that our government is supporting families and raising healthy kids by making it easier for more eligible children and youth from low-income families to access free dental health services in ontario the new healthy smiles ontario program provides access to free preventive routine and emergency dental services for all eligible children and youth i'm very proud of our government's healthy smiles program mr speaker it's an important step in ontario's overall answer reduction strategy thank you supplementary thank you speaker thank you to the minister for his response but also for his leadership role in supporting scarborough healthy smiles is an excellent oral health program run by the public health units across ontario this type of preventive treatment whether checkup cleaning fillings x-rays we know in the long run it's safe our health care system dollars studies show the early detection and identification of oral disease are critical in the children's overall health social well-being and learning as a former public health nurse and school board trustee i know the free healthy smiles dental health care program will help children my writing of scarborough aging court across ontario improve their oral health keep them out of the emergency room ensure proper nutrition promote self-esteem and reduce absenteeism from schools speaker through you to the minister can he please tell the house how the families can access healthy smile programs thank you minister well and thank you mr speaker as part of this new and improved program where we merged six different programs with a different set of rules and six different applications into one program with one application one set of rules mr speaker 70 000 more kids will have access to these important services and i'm pleased to report back today that already more than 323 000 young people are enrolled in the healthy smiles program and to bring that number even higher we launched an awareness campaign last week across the province to encourage more people to enroll and to visit ontario.ca healthy smiles to find out if their kids are eligible and to sign them up for these important publicly funded dental services families can also speak to their local public health unit of course our public health units are essential partners and i want to thank them and our other partners including our dentists as we roll out this important answer before we go to new questions just to remind the member from Windsor west it really doesn't matter where you sit thank you member from Elgin mr speaker a recent Toronto Sun article detailed the government's failures for patients with diabetes this particular patient had to have her left foot amputated and came close to having to empty her other foot due to lack of preventative foot care 2012 report released by Canada's premiers revealed that an estimated 85 percent of leg amputations as a result of a non-healing foot ulcer the report recommended the use of the registered nurses association of Ontario's best practices guide to prevent the need for amputation but four years later about 2000 patients are forced to undergo physically and mostly traumatic amputations each year mr speaker why has the minister failed to implement rnao's preventative measures that could save millions of dollars and thousands of limbs and Ontario's diabetic patients well thank you mr speaker and i i have to commend rnao and as well the canadian association of wound care both of whom are participating in a health quality ontario task force or a working group that i asked hqo to set up to look specifically at these issues and so we're getting we're hearing from the best experts right across this country on this important issue it shouldn't it's unacceptable that the level of amputation that we're seeing the it's important that we have a wound care approach which is based on best practices and best principles that that is applied province-wide so we've gathered together the experts and we've of course rnao is part of that process and as i mentioned the canadian association of wound care so we can actually hear from them work with them in this working group to develop those standards of care and implement them across the province mr speaker thank you supplementary thank you back into the minister health mr that task force should have been called four years ago after the premier's report came out not four years later in patient suffering for four continued years but the canadian diabetes association mr speaker reported the economic burden of diabetes was estimated 4.9 billion in 2010 and expected to increase to 6.9 billion by 2020 estimate 1.5 million people in ontario have diabetes and that's to grow to 2.3 million people by 2025 these ontarians are 12 times more likely to be hospitalized with end stage renal disease and 20 times more likely to be hospitalized for lower limb amputation than the general public could the minister explain why prevention is not a priority in this government mr speaker of course it's a priority and that's why we're looking at wound care we're also looking at offloading which is an important aspect of this in terms of prevention and best best practices for management but i need to remind the member opposite that ontario was the first province or territory in canada to fully fund insulin pumps for children and adults with type 1 diabetes we've established six centers for complex diabetic diabetes care they provided care to over 9 000 new patients we've increased the number of diabetes education teams which i suspect the member opposite would agree is a preventive aspect of care we now have 321 diabetes education teams across the province we have diabetes mobile outreach services and we've invested in self management as well mr speaker making sure that individuals like my sister who has type 1 diabetes answer make sure that they have the education and support that they need to be able to live those highest quality lives mr speaker thank you new question the member from london west thank you speaker my question is to the minister of labor uh speaker last week we learned that the ontario government recovered nearly 140 000 in wages owed by 18 firms to interns after a ministry blitz of a small number of dta workplaces the results of the blitz are deeply troubling of the 36 firms with interns that were subject to the employment standards act fully half were not meeting their obligations under the esa speaker it seems that the minister's efforts to educate employers are not working while the blitz stopped the exploitation of unpaid interns at 18 firms what is the minister doing to protect the thousands of other young people who are working without pay at hundreds more firms across the question thank you thank you speaker and thank you to the member for this important question contrary to the assertions that are made by the member i would say the work we are doing on unpaid internships in this province is working and thanks to the work that we were able to do with the ministry of labor and the blitz young people in this province will now be receiving 140 000 that they wouldn't have otherwise received speaker let me make it perfectly clear unpaid internships are illegal in the province of ontario there's no such thing as a legal unpaid internship speaker if there are employers out there today and the blitz shows us there are if there are employers out there today that still do don't understand or they decide not to follow the rules we're going to continue to level that playing field for other employers in this province that do abide by the rule speaker i'm proud we were able to recover the money for these young people that deserve that money speaker thank you the member from kitchens in kanestoga on a point of order point of order yeah i'd like to welcome pathfinder christian school to question period today thanks guys for coming thank you here for Barry on a point of order yes speaker i'd like to wish a very happy birthday to the member from brampton springdale who celebrated her birthday on april of twenty seven thank you pursuant to standing order 38 a the member from timon's james bae has given notice of his dissatisfaction with the answer to his question given by the minister of transportation concerning gas prices this matter will be debated tomorrow at 6 p.m there being no further deferred votes this house stands recessed until 1 p.m this afternoon