 It's now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of her Majesty's loyal opposition. Thank you so much. Thank you so much speaker Speaker my first question is for the Premier earlier this week the Premier and his MPPs Against all science and health advice Voted against our motion to reopen outdoor amenities Manatees say safely so can the Premier confirm that he is now going to Go back on his on his decision lift the restrictions that he imposed on outdoor activities notwithstanding the fact that every Credible expert begged him not to do so To reply the Minister of Health very much speaker and I would say to the leader of the official opposition that we have Encouraged people to be outdoors the weather is great now We encourage people to be outdoors go to the parks the parks are all open go for a walk go for a bike ride to go for a run Get it slide and get some exercise We know that's important for people's physical and mental well-being so we have not strayed from that We have always encouraged people to be outdoors this time of year Back to the Premier this government has a terrible record on reopening we will remember back in the fall They brought forward their color-coded framework In which the metrics that they utilized were four times higher than what the experts recommended Back in February the science table predicted that if the government rushed three opening and didn't put in place extra Public health precautions that we would be in a very terrible situation They predicted disaster and lo and behold the Premier ignored their advice and walked us right into this brutal third wave in April the Premier decided to close playgrounds and bring a Police state into Ontario instead of giving us paid sick days for our essential workers That's not what the science tables recommended and now apparently there's been another Marathon cabinet battle underway will this Premier commit this time to not rely on buddies and Lobbyists and stakeholders and it is decision-making, but actually listen to the science Well since the beginning of this pandemic our government's top priority has been the health and well-being of the people of Ontario and since the arrival of the more transmissible Variants to the province, which is actually what did lead to the third wave We've continued to take the necessary actions to control the spread But we continue to rely on the advice and recommendations of our chief medical officer of health our public health measures table and many other medical experts to review the science and the data and the clinical evidence to Provide us with advice and recommendations on when we can safely start to reopen the province When the time is right because there are many factors that need to be considered including the the numbers of the Cases that we're seeing in the province what's happening with hospitalizations new Hospitalizations as well as ICU rates the our rate Public health system capacity and of course the rate of vaccinations which are going extremely well We've now vaccinated over 7.5 million Final supplementary the problem is they don't take the experts advice They don't take the advice we cannot get this wrong again It is important to get it right parents want their kids back in schools working people want to be safely back on the job Frontline health care workers need relief not a fourth wave to deal with Businesses need certainty so that they can reopen for good and start hiring people again Everybody wants to see public health ahead of politics speaker The premier has messed it up three times costing us jobs costing lives costing businesses We don't trust him and nobody trusts this government to get it right So will he commit today to to base his his plan on the expert advice? Make sure that he makes that advice Public because nobody trusts this premier nobody has confidence that you'll get it right this time Well, I would say of course we are relying on the Medical advice and the scientific advice that we're receiving from the expert They will be the ones that will advise us when it will be safe to start gradually Reopening things we know that has to be done on a very gradual basis because of the variants of concern in particular And that more information will be coming forward on that to very very very soon next question Later the opposition. It's very much. My next question is also to the premier I have to say that people are relieved that the announcement came that the surgeries are going to start being Booked again, and that is that is really great, and it can't happen soon enough as we all know in fact in the national post There was a report that said this as soon to be published data, and I quote Indicates that twice as many Ontarians with heart ailments passed away waiting for surgery during the pandemic than before COVID-19 hit. So my question to the premier is can he can he tell us How long he expects people to have to wait and how many Ontarians have already passed away while waiting for their surgeries Mr. Tell Speaker. Well, our government is certainly well aware that many people are very anxious wanting to have their surgeries that have been postponed Done as soon as possible and to have the diagnostic procedures done as well We know that there are many people that have had their lives Put on hold for a period of time because of the variants because of the surgeon cases that we've seen that have required hospitalization of many many people with the COVID Variants, however, we have already put significant amounts of money into dealing with the backlog $500 million from last fall to the most recent budget $500 million will certainly help But I think it's also important to note that in 2020-2021 the average Ontario hospital completed 88% of their total surgical allocation and that since the beginning of this pandemic there have been already over 430,000 Scheduled surgeries done and more to be done now with the re issuance of the amendment to directive number two Well speaker with all due respect people haven't only had to put their lives on hold people have lost their lives Well, they've been on hold the FAO estimates as everybody estimates as everybody knows that there will be 419,000 surgeries and procedures Backlogged by September and it'll take three and a half years to clear that backlog That didn't have to be this way in British Columbia. They started last summer Try to reduce the backlog and get those surgeries and procedures dealt with and they entered the third wave of this pandemic With 95% of their backlog cleared that didn't happen in Ontario Ontario did nothing in that regard and now we're further behind than ever speaker and even worse This government tabled a budget that had less than half of the necessary funding to clear the backlog So my question is when will we see a plan that has clear Benchmarks and the appropriate funding to clear the surgical and procedural backlog Well, the situation in BC can't be compared to the situation in Ontario Because it's important to point out that the percentage of procedures completed in BC Represents the patients who were on surgical wait lists when the ramp down in March 2020 began and had their surgeries delayed It does not account for patients that would have been added to wait lists in that time period if there had not been a ramp down So that is not even applicable to Ontario, but with respect to what is happening in Ontario We have invested over 283 million to support additional priority surgeries including cardiac cancer Orthopedic and cataract surgeries. We've extended diagnostic imaging hours at health care facilities for MRIs CT scans and other tests We've invested more than 351 million dollars for more than 2,250 new beds at 57 hospitals We've also initiated a surgical wait list and surgical smoothing program to make sure that we can help people as quickly as possible And we have invested the money and able to in order to be able to do that Well speaker people are suffering and they can't wait Indefinitely for this government to put a plan together. Dr. Harindra. We Jaycindra a sunny brook cardiologist says this and I quote I have lost a lot of patients on the wait list Those patients and their families deserve recognition that they are victims of this pandemic too Patients are literally losing their lives while waiting For delayed surgeries Speaker my question to the Premier is this without Significant investment and a serious plan to eliminate the backlog Patients desperate for surgery are going to be left suffering and at increasing risk When will we see the plan and the funding? Well, there is a plan and there is the funding of a as I've just indicated to you $500 million to start in order to be able to move forward with the diagnostic procedures as well as the surgeries This has been organized for some time. We've been working through it We were able to do many of the surgeries and procedures Before the third wave hit us and we are looking to do that as as much as we can now This is something that dr. Williams and the medical experts as well as people in our government have been looking at the List on a daily basis to see when we can amend directive number two. You're right it's great that it's happened will be able to start with the ambulatory procedures and day procedures as Soon as as now in some hospitals as long as they're able to follow the guidelines and rules Set out by Ontario Health that is very good news And we know that people are anxious to have their surgeries done or procedures done And we are going to move through them as quickly as possible Thank you speaker my question is for the Premier Speaker this morning the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives released a new report that calls on this government To commit to ending private for-profit long-term care in Ontario The report notes that the main focus for private long-term care operators is making a profit for themselves and their shareholders And they're willing to cut corners if that means bigger profits for them We've seen this clearly throughout the pandemic with many homes withholding PPE and not paying their psw's and frontline workers a livable wage Speaker the main focus of anyone in seniors care should be making sure seniors are safe and healthy But that's not what's happening here in Ontario And that's why the COVID-19 death rate in for-profit homes was twice the rate of non-profit homes and Five times the rate of publicly owned homes speaker my question through you to the Premier Will the conservatives let this report and recommendations sit on the shelf yet again like all the other advice They've been given or will they take responsibility take action and take the profit out of long-term care Thank you very much mr. Speaker of course we started taking action From day one when we were elected mr. Speaker we didn't Need reports to tell us that we needed to make some significant investments into long-term care That is why of course we started immediately back in 2018 to build long-term care beds Look, I've said in a number of occasions Mr.. Speaker the fact that the previous liberal administration only built some 600 beds over over the time that they were in office is completely unacceptable There were four previous liberal administrations that did nothing to build out long-term care did nothing to refurbish Some of the older homes did nothing for staffing strategy. Look what we're doing is putting 2,000 new nurses in in stream 27,000 new psw's 30,000 additional spaces mr. Speaker this is an incredible step But on our on our way to ensuring that every pay every resident of long-term care gets four hours of care in North American Level of care leading level of care mr. Speaker. We're well on our way to the best system in North America I hope the members opposite will support us Question Speaker it's not just new Democrats and everyday Ontarians who are calling for an end to for profit big corporate long-term care a Clear legacy of the liberal government and conservative government as well. It's senators It's lawyers. It's public health and policy experts economists just to name a few speaker They all agree that phasing out For profit long-term care isn't just the right thing to do It's essential to the well-being of our seniors and the health of our long-term care system here in Ontario Again to the premier. Will you take the advice of these experts? Listen to them and the data and commit to taking the profit out of long-term care Well certainly mr. Speaker I'm not gonna take the advice of the members opposite who are suggesting that we remove Thousands of beds from from the system mr. Speaker. That's just not simply not going to happen I'm not certain what the members opposite don't understand We're not going to reduce the amount of long-term care available to the people the province of Ontario like the member is suggesting We're going to increase order 30,000 spaces mr. Speaker because we know we need to we're not going to reduce the amount of care in Long-term care homes we're going to increase it mr. Speaker for hours of quarter, which is why we're hiring some 27,000 additional PSWs mr. Speaker. That's why we're bringing on 2,000 additional nurses so very clearly to the member opposite. No, I am not going to listen to you I'm not going to reduce the amount of long-term care beds. I'm not going to reduce the amount of nurses I'm not going to reduce the amount of psw's. I'm not going to reduce the amount of care I'm going to do just the opposite as all of the members on this side of the house are committed to doing We're gonna get this right mr. Speaker because it's been too long and it's been ignored The official opposition will come towards the next question the member for flamborough glanbrook Thank you and good morning mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker a major priority for our premier for our health minister for this government has been getting needles into arms as Of today as the minister just mentioned over seven and a half million Ontario adults have received their first dose Ensuring that millions of people can get their vaccine is simply no small feat This government has worked diligently to create a robust online platform and call center to manage the demand for vaccines Mr. Speaker can the minister of government and consumer services Provide some insight into the work that has gone on behind the scenes to enable more than seven and a half million Ontarians receive a vaccine Reply the minister of government and consumer services Thank you very much mr. Speaker and I'd like to thank the member the hard-working member from flamborough glanbrook for that important question Because I would like to share in the house that I routinely referred to the Ministry of government and consumer services as the machinery of Government and they have not failed us when it comes to making appointments for vaccine bookings And you know when you couple our effective call center with the online booking that was stood up by the Ministry of Health We have an amazing one-two punch when it comes to accessing vaccines For example just two weeks ago on May 3rd when the 18 and older cohort in hotspot regions We're allowed to start making their appointments. We had a record-breaking day at that time We accommodated through the online call or at the online portal and our call center 420,000 appointments and the very next day. We also accommodated almost 300,000 appointments Again, so what I would like to share with everyone in the house when you pull our call center together with our online booking We have one of the best systems in North America. Thank you And the supplementary question Thank You minister and I know Ontarians are reassured to hear that our call center is here to help all of those who are Eligible and want a vaccine to actually get one and mr. Speaker our call center offers support in over 300 languages and mr. Speaker. I'm not sure if you know this But Ontario is among the first if not the first jurisdiction to offer live Translation services for vaccine book. Yes, that's correct. Yes The first with the tremendous interest in volume our call centers of experience There have also been key days when wait times cannot be avoided Can the Minister of Government and Consumer Services shed some light on what patterns that she is seeing and what Ontarians can expect when they call for support Thank you very much, and you know, I'm very proud to share with everyone that when you take into consideration are our Unique live real-time translation in 300 languages when you think about the hundreds of agents that we have available To book appointments through our call center and when you also marry that with our effective online portal We are one of the best in North America when it comes to booking vaccines And I have to tell you that while there sometimes is a wait time That's good news because it shows that there's our hundreds of thousands of people that want to help Ontario move forward by getting their vaccines And you know speaker I'm really pleased to share with you that the average time in booking an appointment It's less than seven minutes. You know just earlier this week. My mom sent me a note on Monday She got notification from the Huron Perth health unit that she could book her second appointment I also heard from an individual that had two twenty two thousand nine hundred and ninety nine people ahead of him on Tuesday morning That he booked his appointment for Sunday speaker We have one of the best appointment booking systems in North America and think Thank you Thank You mr. Speaker of this questions for the premier Students and their families are worn down after another five weeks and in some cases even longer of Emergency remote learning they are missing their friends their teachers and they're watching very anxiously as the end of the year Approaches and there's a possibility that they're going to have another zoom chat replace their graduations Speaker this government refused to do what was necessary to keep schools Safely open because they just didn't want to spend the money They refused to listen to the experts when they close the playgrounds and the soccer fields We don't even know at this moment how many education workers have been vaccinated Which is a key part of reopening schools Speaker is the premier going to come forward with any kind of plan to salvage this school year or is the real plan to Keep kids in online learning permanently Thank you very much mr. Speaker We're going to continue to follow the best expert advice the chief medical officer felt as we have done throughout the pandemic I know the members opposite did not vote for His continuation give confidence to our lead medical officer But on this side the house we believe in following his advice and that's why we've done so since the beginning It's why Ontario has where the lowest rates case rates for children under the age of 20 in the nation because we invested 1.6 billion dollars put every You know every Intervention possible within our schools from improving air ventilation to the supplying of three quality mass PPE To cohorting students to increase screening Asymptomatic testing the only province that has that type of capacity within all regions of the province We've done that following the advice we're going to continue to do that Obviously, we know how important it is to keep schools open while we have done so throughout the year Our aim is to follow the Because we do not want to put at risk the recovery that we now finally see on the horizon. Thank you Speaker what's clear I think from a response like that is that this government is wiping its hands of This school year and of our students across this province This premier isn't serious about safely reopening schools because he's too focused on saving money by keeping our kids Permanently online that is their plan. They've made it very clear Teachers education workers school boards pediatricians or parents mental health advocates They are all saying the same thing online learning is harming our kids We should be investing now in Reopening our schools the public school boards Association has said the government's plan and I want to quote this mr. Speaker Maybe promoting the online learning option to the detriment of student well-being and the overall integrity of our education system Why with the mounting evidence and growing backlash why this government dropped this terrible plan? It is ironic speaker coming from members opposite who've stood with the teacher unions to keep schools closed throughout 2021 In fact, it was the members opposite who said schools should remain closed so long as the state home order They would have kept schools closed They would have taken away choice from parents and they would have under water learning quality kids in this province deserve The premier provided 1.6 billion more than any province more than you Democrats in New and British Columbia More funding for mental health than any province for a hundred percent increase than when the former liberals were in power We have followed the advice we've put in place for Davenport come to automatic testing Stricter screening of kids. We have insured busing transportation has been improved. We have insured cleaning as enhanced within our schools We did all that leading us to one of the lowest rates of case cases for you Let the minister complete his answer We have put in those dollars in place that has led us to one of the lowest case rates of youth under 20 in Canada Because we followed the advice we want to keep schools open and we want kids in school It must be safe. We are following the best advice the chief medical officer of health as we have done throughout this pandemic Responding to do so in the interest of students Thank you speaker my question is for the premier on November 3rd of last year the premier released a color-coded Reopening plan that was immediately rejected by scientists and public health experts on February 11th The premier was advised that if he reopened too early, we would have a disaster Well, the premier reopened too early, and we had a catastrophic third wave on April 16th The premier brought in carding enclosed playgrounds Scientists immediately said this is not what we are recommending. So speaker will the premier Commit today to a reopening plan supported by the science advisory table with clear and transparent Key indicators for when it is safe to reopen schools communities and businesses for outdoor and indoor service Mr. Bell Well, first let me be clear It's the arrival of a more transmissible variance that actually led to the third wave that we're dealing with With a higher rate and that is why we've been calling on the federal government Something about that because that is how the variance came in However, since we have implemented the stay-at-home order We're also looking at how we may safely exit it when the time is right because you're absolutely right We need to do this slowly and carefully and there needs to be a plan Which is being developed which is based on the scientific advice and medical advice that we've received from the chief medical Officer of health the public health of your table as well as other medical experts And it is based on looking at Outdoors activities first indoors activity later But there will be more information that will be coming forward with respect to this imminently Speaker with all due respect to the minister and I have the utmost respect for this minister The government has not followed the advice of the science advisory table time and time again Speaker this is a matter of public confidence and trust The only way we are going to combat cove it and get this pandemic behind us is the environment come toward If the public is on side So I am pleading with the government today speaker follow the advice of the science advisory table have clear Indicators be transparent with the people of Ontario what the science advisory table is telling them and Give businesses time to plan no more flip-flopping Will the government doing that today speaker? Thank you well I appreciate the question from the member and I can certainly advise the member opposite that we are relying on The medical advice that we're receiving from the science advisory table That's one group the public health measures table the chief medical officer advice and other medical experts They are certainly providing with with guidance on when and how things can be opened When the time is right because there are many factors of course the need to be considered the rates of vaccination Which are going very well with over 7.5 million vaccines already administered But it's also dealing with the numbers of new Hospitalizations the numbers of people who are in intensive care units the our rate the public health system capacity There are a variety of factors that must be considered But I can certainly assure the member through you mr. Speaker that we are listening to the medical experts We are following their clinical response and recommendations that there will be a plan that which will be released imminently Thank you mr. Speaker my questions for the minister of finance as we head into the second summer of this pandemic all of the members in this chamber Have seen and heard how hard the effects of COVID-19 have been on Ontario small businesses We also know how the recovery of these small businesses is critical to the recovery of our communities as we lay the groundwork to rebuild Ontario better in the work of this Wake of this pandemic That's why mr. Speaker I was happy to hear from a number of small businesses in my community who were in dire need of financial support that they received the second installment of the Ontario small business support grant could the minister tell us more about how the government is supporting Ontario small businesses at this time And elaborate on what new supports have been made available to small businesses Thank you very much speaker and thank you to the member I know he cares deeply about the small businesses who have been impacted greatly by COVID-19 And our government has been working with those businesses for the last 14 months from the beginning of this pandemic Providing over 23 billion dollars to protect our jobs and our economy in our most recent budget 2021 Our government set aside 100 million dollars for ontario tourism and travel small business support grant to help the tourism industry Reclaim its place as an economic powerhouse job creator in our province Applications are now open for the ontario tourism and travel small business support grant which will provide one-time payments of $10,000 to $20,000 to eligible small businesses in the tourism and travel sector each small business owner can use that that money to support Whatever they feel is best whether that is paying wages keeping the doors open again business owners understand their needs best speaker So I encourage everyone to visit ontario.ca Slash COVID support for further eligibility details, please apply I think all members in this house have a responsibility to help funds businesses apply and that deadline will be open until June 21st 2021 Thank you speaker and thank you to the parliamentary assistant for that answer It's great news that the government is supporting hard hit small businesses in so many ways as the minister knows Some of the hardest hit small businesses in this pandemic are in ontario's vital tourism sector Specifically in my riding we've had 33 years of summer music fest that is in jeopardy of not going on The revenue that that generates for our community that the spilloff in tourism is absolutely fantastic Could the minister please tell us how the ontario tourism and travel small business support grant Fits into the government's plan to rebuild a healthy economy Willowville Thank you very much speaker and it's an important question. I would like to correct my record that Grant application program will be open until June 25th 2021 just misspoke there And our government's going to continue to do our best to support this hearted sector We've been doing that from the beginning the the minister of tourism and culture sport heritage industries has hosted 15 town hall Since the start of this pandemic Advocated for the industry at the jobs and recovery committee Created 14 ministerial advisory committees and created the tourism task force and on thursday may 13th the minister Announced the ontario tourism and travel small business grant program and hosted three briefings throughout the day One was for the stakeholders in the tourism and travel industry We're close to a thousand stakeholders were invited and speaker hundreds showed up one for the government MPPs and one for the opposition And to the two members who actually showed up for that town hall I want to thank you for putting politics Politics below order constituents that your response are more important and on a personal note I want to thank you and let you know that I have deep respect for you in this chamber Thank you again for supporting small businesses speaker our government has continued to do Thank you speaker the hardworking personal support workers in this province are exploited underpaid and overworked Many of these workers are immigrant and racialized women And for over a year they have worked on the front lines of this pandemic putting their lives at risk to care for the seniors of this province I recently spoke with connie of psw and my riding in toronto center She's worked throughout the pandemic caring for seniors in their homes her hours fluctuate significantly And she doesn't have benefits and while she receives pandemic of pay It only applies to the time she's scheduled to care for residents, which sometimes can be as little as three hours a day psw pandemic pay wage enhancements are set to expire at the end of june connie and other psw's across the province are demanding a permanent pay raise speaker Will this government listen and give personal support workers the pay increase and full-time jobs that they deserve Thank you speaker and thank you very much to the member for the question We certainly also value the incredible work that personal support workers have done throughout this pandemic They've been there in our long-term care homes in our hospitals in home and community care We know that there are issues relating to their wages. That's why we have provided this Temporary support that's running to the end of june But during that time we're also looking at some of the issues other issues The personal support workers are concerned about not having full-time jobs in some situations not having benefits Not having being paid for some of the additional work They do the traveling time all of the other issues that they're concerned about We want psw's to stay in the system We know that many leave after their first year because it's not the job that they expected it to be So we want to work that into their training and education as well So in short there are many issues that need to be dealt with To keep our personal sponsors and retain them in our system And we were working on just that in addition to the the pay requirements Thank you and respectfully back to the minister If you want to keep psw's in our system and keep them in your jobs the answer is simple You need to just pay them more and give them permanent full-time work Speaker psw's are essential and they deserve to be treated with respect Connie the psw working in my writing told me that the the seniors that she visits depend on her She's paid for only one hour each visit to provide the most basic of care Like helping them go to the washroom bathing them preparing food It is impossible to rush this kind of care in an hour Ultimately, she ends up volunteering her time because she can't stand to leave these seniors without the help that they need Our seniors deserve the highest quality care and the workers who care for them deserve a decent livable wage and full-time careers When is this government going to step up and do the right thing and properly pay psw's in the province of ontario? The question that the member asked you she indicated speaker Through you to the member that there are other issues in addition to the pay issue. There's the timing issue There's the traveling issue There's the trying to put people to groups of people together so that there's not huge travel time involved in it And making sure that people are paid for the work that they do and that they don't have to volunteer But we also know that there's other issues. We're looking at The bill that's just been put forward in the legislature to to regulate Personal health workers to make sure that they have certain standards that they need to conform to They want that we are doing that because we also recognize that's important for them But it's also important for the very vulnerable people that personal support workers care for Children seniors people with disabilities We are looking at all of these issues to make sure that when someone goes through and and is trained as a personal support worker That they want to stay that they want to continue to do this work They are really the lynchpins in home care. I certainly would agree with the member They are the ones that know the family. They know all the issues related to what's going on So we want to encourage them. They want we want them to stay Thank you The next question the member for Ottawa, vanny Thank you, mr. Speaker. My question is to the minister of education Mr. Speaker last night we had an incredibly important conversation in this house on making the education system More equitable through bail 287. Few members were here I want to thank my colleagues of the Opposition who share their important and moving personal stories and oswell for their constructive feedback It was extremely disappointing that the government Came to the debate with their minds made up Believing that they are already doing enough to fight racism in the education system It is unacceptable to refer to any action on systemic discrimination as Counterproductive there can never be enough done as long as systemic barriers still exist So to the minister Why won't the government work with all members of this house to implement bail 287 When it has a potential to improve the education system even further Mr. Speaker we are very much committed to Breaking down barriers that impede the success of students particularly racialized indigenous and under Represented young people in the province of entrail Respectfully the former liberal government had 15 years to advance equity in education and they did not And today they bring forth a private members bill order Whereas this government since day one has brought forth transformation I mean we are the government unlike the former liberals respectfully that are de-streaming the gray nine math curriculum We are following the best advice by limiting discretionary suspensions of young kids Disproportionately impacting black racialized children and special education children We are the government that mandated Professor development on all elected trustees public and catholic English and French all school board Administrators when it comes to human rights training We're the government that ensured that students see themselves reflected in their educators By abolishing a regulation that removed the ability of principles to hire based on equity On diversity and on merit in ontario So that's a mental question the member for or leon I thank you very much, mr. Speaker. You know mr. Speaker growing up in orleans My community wasn't the most diverse place In a high school of 1600 students I can count on maybe two hands the families of Children who come from non-white backgrounds But we didn't talk about it. It wasn't something that was discussed in school We didn't talk about it as friends and and as a result that lack of understanding that lack of Vocabulary talk about these issues remains with me to this day, mr. Speaker We need to ensure that our children are exposed to the to more understanding of where we are as a society today And how we got here and sometimes understanding that history is going to be difficult It's going to be hard and it's going to be uncomfortable But it's important to do mr. Speaker, and if we don't do it, we're leading our children to a great disservice So mr. Speaker, I'll ask the minister of education again Why won't his government support bill 287 and ensure that our children get the understanding education and conversation They need and they deserve If the member opposites You know Thesis to the house is that we need to better reflect Society and diversity then how could the member opposite be a part of a party be associated with the political party that allowed Hiring of educators in Ontario Signorally on their seniority not based on their Ethnocultural backgrounds that we can have for example in peel region order Or I had to call the first time in cateean history that a government called in a supervisor for the Order that did not happen under your watch respectfully and you had the chance to take action peel and you failed them We acted because we believe we have to fight Discrimination all of its forms if we believe in the principle of making sure that the people that inspire our kids Reflect the communities That our schools are in then we should be supporting efforts like the elimination of regulation 274 that ensures The best candidate diverse candidates are the ones who lead instruction or classes. That is just good government Next question And member for northumberland peter burrell south Thank you. Uh, thank you speaker Um in my political leader the opposition will come to her Member for peter burrell. Sorry northumberland peter burrell south speaker. I apologize It was just an urgent email from a constituent and I apologize. I've offended the leader opposite Speaker we know that that that during these difficult times A permeable border is a border when it comes to the spread of the dangerous covet 19 variants these These variants of concern are real and they have entered ontario Speaker this government's made additional investments to contact tracing additional investments to our hospital Additional investments to support with ipak measures additional investments to support in our schools We continue this very real fight against covet 19 so that we can put it beyond us and get back our lives Our cousin nations around the world In part of their covet 19 response have implemented strict border measures I recently learned that the prime minister of the united kingdom Has come under fire for not restricting travel from the united Travel to the united kingdom from international hotspots sooner. So can the solicitor general Please update the house on any lessons learned from the uk experience and what more would be relevant Thank you speaker and thank you to the member from northumberland peter burrell south He's absolutely right dangerous covet variants came to ontario from outside our borders The b1 17 variant was first identified in the uk The b1351 variant first identified in south africa The b1 from brazil and the b1617 was first identified in india These variants are still active in our communities and more of them can appear in the future if the federal government Refuses to act quickly. We don't want dangerous variants to run rampant in ontario and create a fourth wave That is why we want to ensure that the federal government does their job Locks down the borders protects our communities and make sure that we aren't facing a fourth wave because of these variants of concern Thank you Thank you speaker and my supplemental uh back to the minister I know that vaccines play an important role in uh in stopping the spread an important role in returning To our lives back to normal We continue to set daily records in the number of vaccines administered and doses and arms given the great success of our vaccine Campaign to date no one wants to see that effort go to waste Due to emergent variants that slip through our borders All everyone wants is a safe and normal summer mr. Speaker I think to the many activities I look forward to hopefully getting back to in my riding of northumberland peter burrell south And we know ontarians have done their part in helping stop the spread of covet 19 And they expect their government to do the same So my question back to the solicitor general are their concrete examples of how ontarians have reduced their mobility during this pandemic And what more we can do to help stop the spread of covet 19? Thank you And thank you to the member from peter burrell northumberland no northumberland peter burrell south I'm I'm very glad that we are engaging in this conversation because people need to understand that what they have been doing is making a difference For example highway 401 between the 400 and keel street, which remains an important Artillery for a supply chain has nonetheless seen traffic decrease by 25 When compared to pre-pandemic levels Given the sacrifices that ontarians have made over many many months It's time for the federal government to match that effort with action of their own after all we're all in this together And we need to cooperate Unfortunately, thus far our plea to protect ontarians continues to be ignored by the federal government It is deeply disturbing to see how many pathways people are coming in in the variant carrying the variants concerned While we are dealing with high icu rates and hospitalization rates federal government needs to act now Thank you, speaker my questions to the minister of children and community and social services On behalf of my constituents, I put forward a series of questions to the ministry of children and community and social services And we asked specific questions about whether there would be an appeals process What the success markers of a pilot program whether clinicians would get the final say Or whether it would be a care coordinator Who have no clinical experience expertise? What criteria the ministry used to determine Invitations to the pilot oap program? Very specific questions you see speaker So of course these families feel like it was a slap in the face when the ministry Essentially copy and pasted the same non-answer in response Will this government commit to transparency to these families and finally answer these these questions To apply the minister of children community and social services. Well, thanks very much to mr. Speaker And i'm really proud of the job that our government has been doing on the new ontario autism program and all the work That's been put into it by our volunteer clinicians and researchers and Community advocates and and those with lived experience mr. Speaker over the last year The work on that ontario autism program is well underway, and i'm really pleased to say that the first 600 children Have been accepted into the new needs-based program mr. Speaker and will be working with those children and their families over the next month or so before expanding To a far greater number of children across the province But i think it's really important to add that uh, when we made this announcement Earlier this spring or back in the winter mr. Speaker We talked about the fact that we've invested twice the amount of money that was in the previous program from the liberal government 300 million dollars more on the grand total of 600 million mr. Speaker will be spending that and every child in the province is Continuing to receive funding from the government That's far more than the pitiful numbers from the previous liberal government when they were in charge Speaker while i appreciate the response that hasn't really answered the questions that i that the families are actually looking answers to So i'll ask again for years For over two years These kids have been waiting for service for over two years these families have been given no information No stable funding no program in fact under this government capacity has decreased Kids have been denied much needed therapies and families have been forced to go further into debt to support their kids Families tell me that the lack of transparency and the blind disregard for the information that they need is unconscionable Will the minister finally answer the these parents valid questions and confirm Whether clinicians have the final say that there will be appeals process What the criteria was used to invite families into the oap pilot program? What are the success markers for the program? Minister, please be clear and and give the parents the respect they deserve and answer the questions that i asked your ministry Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to to answer some of these questions I can i can confirm that more than 34 000 families are receiving support through their existing behavior plans Mr. Speaker Childhood budgets and interim one-time funding as we continue to implement the new needs-based program for those families Mr. Speaker, they have been assessed by a care coordinator Mr. Speaker and clinicians are going to be working with those families all the way through the process Mr. Speaker That's why we started with 600 families in this ontario autism program Needs-based program mr. Speaker to ensure that we get this right before expanding the program Mr. Speaker, I don't have to tell anyone in this legislature that mistakes have been made on this file dating back To the early 2000s, mr. Speaker We've taken the time to work with clinicians Researchers experts family members those who lived experience to get this right once and for all We're on our way. Mr. Speaker. We are going to have the best program in the entire country Thank you, mr. Speaker My question is for the minister of health essential workers In retail are now eligible for vaccines if they're 18 or older But some important people were excluded from this group Many workers in the retail sector, especially in supermarkets are adolescents aged 16 or 17 I have a 16 year old daughter who works in a hot zone in a supermarket And she says that the other cashiers are her age Jean-François a parent of five children in toronto contacted me Telling me that his entire family got covid his 16 year old daughter also works in a supermarket Mr. Speaker, these people are essential workers Just like everyone else, but they're still not prioritized for vaccination. Here's my question What should I tell all these adolescents that need to deal with frustrated clients? But that continue to work and serve us Thank you minister of health. Thank you very much speaker And thank you for the question. We do have a vaccine rollout plan that is divided into three phases We are into phase two right now and we are looking at the first essential workers group people that are not able to Work from home and there are many people that fall into this category We are now getting into the category of people that are Doing work like grocery store clerks frontline clerks people that are doing customer service All of those issues are are being taken into consideration And we want to make sure that we can continue with this rollout We now can vaccinate 12 to 17 year olds as you're aware This is starting uh via our booking agency as of may 31st But people can still go and make appointments to uh to be vaccinated otherwise So this is something that we want to make sure that everyone in ontario that wants to receive a vaccine Will be able to receive a vaccine and we are working through the list of essential workers now And the supplementary question will be remembered for Orléans Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker my supplementary for the minister of health There's been a lot of talk about frontline workers this past year. Mr. Speaker how important they are How undervalued and underappreciated they are and the pandemic has opened our eyes to the valuable and essential role They play in our communities What seems to have gone unnoticed mr. Speaker is the critical role that teenagers play in this workforce Students who pour the premier's coffee in the morning and make his real egg sandwich at Tim Horns need and deserve to be vaccinated And yet the coffee in the sandwich, mr. Speaker have received more of the premier's attention than these critical workers The students in orleans that are stocking shelves at the grocery store that are pouring coffee at Tim Horns Or working at a pharmacy deserve and need to be prioritized for vaccinations Mr. Speaker we would have thought the government would have done it when the vaccines were authorized For children most recently mr. Speaker that hasn't happened So my question to the ministers when are teenagers who work in the front lines who are pouring coffee and Stocking shelves working grocery stores going to be prioritized for vaccines They have been prioritized for vaccines We've already made the vaccines available the Pfizer vaccines will be available for 12 to 17 year olds Including the teenagers that you're speaking about they are not able to work from home Obviously, they will be able to book their appointments online Versus via our booking tool as of may 31st and they can still receive those vaccines if they book through a pharmacy So we are we are prioritizing them We know that they are not able to work from home So we're prioritizing both that group of workers as well as those young people Next question remember for kitchener said Thank you. Mr. Speaker. My question is to the premier Mr. Speaker the government's plan to use COVID-19 as a cover to make remote learning permanent in Ontario has communities reeling The waterloo region district school board wrote to the minister of education regarding the proposed changes and I quote The letter requests that he halt the implementation of this tv o tfu based Independent learning proposal until further research is completed and all key stakeholders are consulted And school boards aren't alone Andrea brown a waterloo region Parent of two wrote to the MPP of waterloo and I quote We still don't understand the full impacts of the pandemic on our kids After a year of uncertainty and disrupted learning the last thing our kids need is a backdoor move to permanently cut funding for in-person learning Mr. Speaker my question is simple. Can the premier guarantee that funding for in-person learning will not be affected for september Is the education What the government can guarantee is that every parent in Ontario will have a choice of in-class and online learning A choice that would be denied if the members opposite had their way And I think it's important that we appreciate this pandemic while we all look forward to a world with vaccines that will reduce risk We believe parents are best positioned to make the decision for their child Recognizing overwhelmingly most kids will be in school and that is a good thing for their development and their mental health Mr. Speaker we put in we put a plan in place $1.6 billion of investment to protect in-class learning to protect public education in this province More than any province in this country following the best advice the chief medical officer of health 200 million additional dollars for remote learning to strengthen that capacity. There is literally over 150,000 more tablets provided to families over 10,000 internet connections We've expanded professional development to make the online learning remote learning experience better for families for children and for educators themselves We've done this all in spite of the opposition by By the new democrats liberals and teacher unions because we believe at the end of the day It's critical children continue to learn irrespective of the challenges we face at home and abroad Supplementary Thank you. Mr. Speaker and back to the premier without real investments in public education diverse learners and their families will suffer One of Andrea's children is in the pre-IB program and her oldest child who is on the autism spectrum has severe anxiety She insists that the impact of remote learning must be better understood and I quote For both of my children the quality of their education is dramatically reduced Mr. Speaker like Andrea the wr dsb trustees are demanding that government decisions be based on research They write and I quote We are concerned with the lack of research showing that this proposal will improve student achievement and well-being And they raise that and I quote their empathetic Objection to the rushed and radical changes to remote learning being proposed by the ministry As my daddy always says hurry brings worry and worry wears you out So my question through to you to the premier Will the government commit to assessing the impact of remote learning during the pandemic and halt all steps to make this permanent in Ontario minister What is a radical concept? My estimation is the is the idea that a politician would know better than a mother or father in this in this province And I find that very offensive for parents in Ontario the one retain the choice of in-class and online learning We believe in providing that choice We believe in funding them delivering them through public education And we also believe that our online learning system has improved over time because we've made the requisite investments To ensure it is there when we need it for a snow day in this province all the way to a global pandemic This province uniquely is ready to keep our kids learning which is critical for their development And of course for their own mental health, mr. Speaker We provided in our budget an additional enhancement in a remote learning system But at the end of the day speaker our priority remains on keeping our in-class learning safe It's why we've invested 1.6 billion dollars for more staffing for enhanced cleaning the maintenance of public health nurses and testing To ensure kids and staff are safe in this product Thank you speaker to the minister of health on january 15 I warned the premier and the public that lockdown is deadlier than kovat I cited public health that opiate overdose was trending 50 higher I was accused of misinformation and removed from caucus this week The final numbers came in fatal overdose rose 75 percent in ontario from march to december 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 Almost doubled the people age 25 to 44 lost their lives an increase of 501 Compare that to a total of 159 people who lost their life to kovat between the ages 20 to 50 Every loss of life is tragic speaker So we should try and save it the increasing deaths from overdose alone is more than triple Compared to all deaths from kovat ages 20 to 50 and that's just overdose At suicides delayed surgeries and cancer screenings the death of these young people are on this government I've been warning them about this for a year now So I asked the minister to turn off the answering machine show compassion and before more people die from everything but kovat Tell us if she'll end the lockdown Mr. Health Well, thank you speaker. Well, there's a lot to do I Say that I aware that the report came out I'm very grateful to Dr. Hyer and his team and the other individuals that put this report together We take this very seriously and that is why we are working with them on their recommendations Which make eminent sense. However with respect to the lockdown That we entered into the lockdown Because of these variants of concern that have caused very high transmission in our communities That are also threatening the lives of many many people That's why we had to implement the lockdown to save those lives That's the whole purpose of it any life lost is tragic But we need to continue with this until the time is right until the levels are down lower before we can start Exiting this lockdown because the goal remains the same the health and well-being of the people of Ontario are Is our utmost priority will continue to be Speaker I don't understand we all want to save lives The argument is is that our measures are taking more lives and they're saving the evidence is in I'll buy every member here a copy of the star which outlines the numbers Ontario ages 20 to 50 the increase the delta of people dying from overdose is triple the number of people dying from covid Enough with this covid political theater already all life is life and all life is precious and these members these ministers They know their policies resulting in more harm and more lives lost and saved They ran to serve the people not harm them the delayed surgeries and the million cancels cancer screenings alone Will render the human toll of their fear mongering and lockdown multiple times deadlier than covid could ever be And this goes for the ndp and the liberals as well Why do we keep pretending when the evidence is in front of you speaker? I'm asking the minister as a colleague a mother a human being will she please end this human catastrophe Mr. Vell Thank you speaker Well any life lost is a tragedy and we know that over 4000 people have died from covid 19 in In Ontario and there have been losses due to the opioid crisis as well. We're that's why we have been working on it That's why we have since before this pandemic even started. We started with a consumption and treatment services sites There are 16 that have already been approved and we're still receiving applications from communities We're also working through our road map to wellness our mental health and addictions plan that came out just before this Pandemic struck to make sure that we're going to invest 3.8 billion dollars over 10 years in our mental health and addiction system It's vitally important. We are We put 175 million dollars extra into the system last year 176 million dollars this year and we'll continue to do that to protect people from the opioid crisis But also to help them with their mental health issues This is something that is going to last longer than the pandemic will last and we're prepared to help the people of ontario Through all of their crisis Remember from work center come to order That concludes question period for today