 Seeing no further introductions, it is now time for Question Period, the leader of Renacti's Royal Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. My question to the Premier, Premier, when you came in with your transition team after becoming Liberal leader, you sat down with David Livingston and the outgoing staff. In that first meeting, I imagine that you told Mr. Livingston to protect all documents around the gas plant scandal. Can you answer a simple yes or no question? Did you direct David Livingston to preserve all documents, including emails, related to the gas plant scandal? Thank you, Premier. Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, I did not direct David Livingston. He was the chief of staff to the former Premier. He was never my staff. I never directed him in any way whatsoever. Thank you, supplementary. I'm absolutely perplexed, Premier. You were the leader of Liberal Party. You were the incoming Premier and you gave no direction to order documents related to the gas plant scandal. This is the difference between that Premier and how I would handle it. I would want the information. I would want it on the table. I would want all of the answers. This tells me that you were either in on it or you looked the other way. I don't know what other conclusion we could reach, Premier. So are you telling me today that you made no effort whatsoever to get to the bottom of the gas plant scandal? You did not give us one of your first directions to preserve all documents so that taxpayers could get answers on where all that money went and who better. Thank you, Premier. Mr. Speaker, well, there are two parts to that question. I did not direct David Livingston. I did not direct the staff of the former Premier, Mr. Speaker. I never did. They were the staff of another Premier, Mr. Speaker. I did not direct them. What I did do when I came into this office, Mr. Speaker, and I said that I was going to do it during my leadership, I opened up. I also heard something that I've said in the past that I don't like to hear. And if I hear it again, I'll try to pinpoint who said it. I did exactly what I said I was going to do, Mr. Speaker, which was to make sure that all the documents that were being asked for were turned over, Mr. Speaker, that they were made public, that the committee had the scope to be able to ask the necessary questions about the whole issue around the relocation of the gas plants, Mr. Speaker. That's what I committed to, and that's what I did when I came into this office, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Our final supplementary. So, Premier, you looked the other way. The first question I would have asked as Premier is, get all the facts on the table. Don't let any documents be destroyed. I can't believe you looked the other way. That makes you complicit in this scandal. You either knew and allowed it to happen or you looked the other way, both of which disqualify you from being trusted to run the province of Ontario. I'm still absolutely incredulous. You didn't ask that basic question. It sounds like your first goal was plausible deniability. Let me give another example. I know this man, a hero of yours, Paul Martin, must be admired about his record as finance minister in Canada. Many of his campaign team now part of your team. At least he did the right thing when there are allegations of criminal behavior. He called the judicial inquiry. It's called the Gommery inquiry. I would call a judicial inquiry. My question is, I would, why didn't you? Thank you, Premier. Well, let me just be clear with the leader of the opposition. My office preserved documents, Mr. Speaker. In fact, we turned over 30,000 pages of documentation, Mr. Speaker, to the committee. And, Mr. Speaker, we know that the scope of the committee was changed, that the questions that were being asked were being answered, Mr. Speaker, because I made it clear when I came into this office that that was going to be our modus operandi, Mr. Speaker. That is what we committed to. That is what I have done. I did not direct the staff of the former Premier, Mr. Speaker. We changed the rules around preserving documents. We made sure that all staff in my government had training, Mr. Speaker, so that they would understand the rules around preserving documents, Mr. Speaker. I upheld back the commitment that I made as I came into the leadership, Mr. Speaker. New question. Back to the Premier, Speaker. Premier, you've threatened a lawsuit on me, on my colleague from the Pee and Carlton. You have tried to shut down debate. I'll tell you this directly. We won't cease. We won't desist. We will pursue this and get back to the taxpayers. I only wish, Premier, that you had put as much energy as you are in assuing the opposition to actually get answers for taxpayers, to hold liberals to account. Instead of looking the other way, instead of getting proportions, actually hold those liberals to account. I can't believe you didn't ask the basic questions. I can't believe you won't call a judicial inquiry. Why are you pointing at us? Why didn't you point at your own team and hold them to account? Thank you. Premier. Again, during the transition from the former Premier's tenure until mine, I asked the AG, I asked the other panel, Mr. Speaker, could you examine the cost of the relocation of the gas plants, Mr. Speaker? My staff worked with the staff of the leader of the opposition to make sure that we set up the committee, Mr. Speaker. That commitment that I made to open up the process was upheld. That's exactly what we did, Mr. Speaker. As for my willingness to engage in debate, I am willing anytime to engage in debate while we are talking about facts, Mr. Speaker. I have said that and I have engaged in debate in this House day after day. I have appeared before a committee twice, Mr. Speaker. I have told, I have said exactly what my role was and what I knew to be the truth, Mr. Speaker. I will have that debate anytime. But when it comes, I will not debate false allegations. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, the member from the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs will come to order. And I know what I'm doing. Supplementary question, please. You know, Speaker, I think the language from the Aboriginal Affairs Minister says what their plan is. He just said, get your checkbook out, Tim. This is all about trying to intimidate the opposition. You're trying to shut us down from asking legitimate questions. You have ordered us to cease and desist asking the tough questions. My team and I will not cease. I'm hearing noises on both sides, actually, when he's trying to put the question. Come to order. Please finish. You've asked us to cease and desist. We're not going to cease. We're not going to desist. We're going to pursue the trap of facts as far as we can. And this looks like if Premier was more interested in putting things under the carpet than getting in the facts. I'll ask you a very simple question. Premier, why don't you put the same energy into finding the liberals accountable who may have committed these crimes? Why don't you put that level of energy that you put in the lawsuit and actually getting cash as a province of Ontario? This is all about the minister of training calling universities will come to order. Mr. Speaker, well, I would just say to the leader of the opposition that all my energy goes into making sure that we make the right decisions for the people of Ontario. That leadership into this role, Mr. Speaker, was to make sure that we had the questions answered that were being asked about the relocation of the gas plants. That's why I asked the AG to do an investigation. That's why, Mr. Speaker, we opened up the committee. That's why we changed the... From central north, we'll come north. ...of energy infrastructure, and we changed the rules around preservation of... ...and rent food. Mr. Speaker, far from wanting to shut down the debate, Mr. Speaker, I opened up the debate. I wanted the debate opened up, and that is the people of Ontario deserve. What the people of Ontario do not deserve, Mr. Speaker, is that we do not deal with the facts. I believe that dealing with the facts is what must happen if we're going to have a healthy political debate in Ontario. Well, Premier, with all due respect, threatening lawsuits is not about democratic debate. It's about shutting them down. That's what your plan is. Secondly, if you truly were interested in getting the facts, you would have made sure that documents were not destroyed. These are OPP, Anti-Rackets Division... The Minister of Transportation, come on. ...that took place in the Premier's office. You were in charge at the time. I know you're an intelligent woman. I know you're dedicated to your job. But respect our intelligence, too. We simply don't believe that Peter Feist could have gone in and destroyed documents in up to 24 computers, called himself Wendy Y., used a password. And you never knew. None of those 24 staffers called it to your attention, your chief of staff. I don't think there's a single person in the province of Ontario that believes that... It's true. It's simply not credible. So, Premier, let me ask you this. Will you finally do the right thing? If you really want the facts, call a judicial inquiry. Just like your hero, Nicole Martin did. Thank you, Premier. It's here what OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis said. He said, I'm told by our investigators that the OPP is receiving good cooperation from senior government officials in this matter. There was full cooperation. That's February 27th, 2014. The Auditor General in October 2013 said I did have the opportunity to meet with the Premier. It was good to hear that they are taking the report seriously. And that they are taking some actions. And changing the way things are going to be done in the future so that a situation like this does not evolve. That was October 8th, 2013, Mr. Speaker. And Dr. Anne Kavuki and the Information and Privacy Commissioner. The Premier has been fully cooperative with me in my office. In fairness to Premier Wynn, she said, you have my full cooperation, whatever you want from us. Mr. Speaker, we have done everything in our power to make sure that all the information was available. We will continue to do that, Mr. Speaker. But I am going to insist every time that we debate factual information, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. The Premier claims she didn't learn about the widespread deletion of emails and wiping of computers until the OPP anti-rackets grant warrant was unsealed. When did her staff learn about the allegations, Mr. Speaker? Mr. Speaker, again, I am going to say exactly what I have said to the leader of the opposition and previously in this House. When I was in the leadership race, Mr. Speaker, I knew that there needed to be a change in terms of the way documentation was provided. I believe that there needed to be an opening up of the process. We did that, Mr. Speaker. We opened up the scope of the process of the committee. We provided tens of thousands of documents, Mr. Speaker, to the committee. I have appeared before the committee twice, Mr. Speaker. And we continue to cooperate in every way possible. That is what I said I would do, and that is what I have done, Mr. Speaker. Supplementary. The Premier suggests she knew nothing about allegations that computers were being wiped by senior liberals even though the OPP says three of her current staff were amongst those who had their computers accessed and wiped. Her Minister of Government Services says he didn't want to know anything about an investigation. He never once discussed it with his chief of staff, even though the OPP said her computer was one of the ones wiped. Is the Premier also asserting that no one on her staff was keeping tabs on a file that could see senior liberals facing jail time? Mr. Speaker, again, I will repeat. I knew coming into this office that there was a lot of work that we were going to need to do in order to make sure that the process around the relocation of the gas plants was opened up, that there were questions that were being asked, but not been answered. And so I knew perfectly well that we were going to have to change the way we were working with the public quite frankly to make sure that all the information that was asked for was provided. I made that commitment, Mr. Speaker. So I knew from the moment that I began the leadership race long before I was in the Premier's office that we were going to have to make changes and we were going to have to open up the process. And that's what we did, Mr. Speaker. That's why we're having this discussion. We have cooperated with the committee and the ongoing investigation and we will continue to do that. Thank you. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, the Premier claims she was in the dark. The House Leader and Minister of Government Services claims he was in the dark. We're now being told that staff at every level not only didn't know what the OPP was investigating, they didn't know what their own internal investigations had found. And the Premier supposedly hasn't spoken to people with every single day about whether their computers were wiped. People stuck to paying the bill, Speaker, for the gas plant scandal. The people who the Premier is supposed to be accountable to might find this just a little bit hard to believe. What does the Premier have to say to them? What I have to say, Mr. Speaker, is that there is an independent police investigation ongoing, Mr. Speaker. It's entirely independent and that's as it should be. The OPP investigators have been working with a federal Crown Attorney which I know the leader of the third party knows that and that's in order to make sure that it is an independent inquiry. So I will not interfere with that, Mr. Speaker. We are cooperating with both the requests from the committee and the investigation. That's what I said we would do, Mr. Speaker, and that is what we're doing. And the question, the leader of the third party. The last question is for the Premier. The Minister of Government Services has produced a report apparently on their investigation into the 24 computers wiped in the Premier's office. Will the Premier release that report today, Speaker? Mr. Government Services? Mr. Speaker, I believe what the Honourable Member is referring to is notice that is given in the document that was released by the courts some two weeks ago, Mr. Speaker, where it talks about the OPP working with a branch of the Ministry of Government Services to help undertake their investigation. As I've said in this House, as is appropriate for the Minister, I was not aware of the details of what went on. I told my Deputy Minister I didn't want to know about the details of any police investigation. And Mr. Speaker, I am still of the view that a police investigation should stay with the Ontario Provincial Police and I will in no way interfere with that investigation. Mr. Speaker, and Mr. Speaker, I would remind the member that when the OPP appeared in front of the committee, they talked about political interference could actually jeopardize this investigation. Supplementary. The Premier insists that this government is committed to transparency and openness. Why won't she make a government report, one that the people of Ontario paid for available to the public? Minister? Mr. Speaker, there we have it. The leader of the new Democratic Party now believes that governments should interfere in the work of the Ontario Provincial Police. Mr. Speaker, I'm not sure how they do things over there, but on this side of the legislature, when the Ontario Provincial Police is involved, we respect its independence, Mr. Speaker, and we get out of the way of their investigation. We don't interfere with their investigation. Mr. Speaker, what she is suggesting is incredible that a leader of this party would ask the government to interfere in such an investigation. Thank you, final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, the Premier keeps insisting that she's doing things differently, but all people see are reports being kept under wraps, senior liberals fleeing the province, and a Premier who claims she sees nothing, heard nothing, and has done nothing. Does she really think that that's good enough for the people of this province? Thank you, Minister. Let's deal with facts. The member is making reference to a document which I am only aware of due to the court document that was released some two weeks ago. Mr. Speaker, I have no information about this report. I shouldn't have any information about this report because it was done as part of an investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police. Again, Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe that a leader of a political party standing up here and counseling the government to interfere in a police investigation, Mr. Speaker. It is quite frankly beneath her, Mr. Speaker. We respect the independence of the OPP, and we will continue to cooperate with them, Mr. Speaker, but in no way interfere in their very important work. Thank you. No question. A member from the PN Parliament. My question as well is to the Premier. The Premier suggests for six weeks in 2013 that no one was in charge in the Premier's office, that although she was elected on January 27th, was using the Premier's office as meetings and was chairing Liberal Caucus on January 30th, she still says she wasn't in charge. The OPP says that the transition happened immediately, yet the Premier disagrees. What I find interesting is that one of the alleged hard drives that was wiped was a staff member of the current Premier, and the Premier must understand how this looks. So I'm asking her, can the Premier tell us how Brianna Ames' computer came to be wiped on February 6th if she did not work in the Premier's office until after February 11th? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, again I would suggest that the Honourable Member do two things. First of all, review the court document, which gives us a glimpse into an OPP investigation, and it talks about one person who is right now the subject of these allegations unproven and that is the former Chief of Staff or the former Premier for activities that happened under his watch. The second thing I would ask Mr. Speaker is she start dealing with the facts, Mr. Speaker, and apologize for all that she said. She has experience with this before, Mr. Speaker. Her involvement with Blue Draft, she knows that when a legal battle goes wrong, she sometimes has to apologize, Mr. Speaker, and maybe she should consider it right now. Thank you. I won't apologize for asking the tough questions to get to the bottom of this. And you better be interested. If James's hard drive be deleted prior to joining the Premier's office, I'll give a quick answer, it wouldn't have been. The Premier chooses to believe that she was not Premier until February 11th, so let's go with that for a moment. She would have hired Brianna Ames between February 11th and March 8th if that is the case. Yet according to the OPP ITO, which for the government house leader, what were from Eglinton Lawrence come to order? It would have been one of the 24 access between February 6th and March 20th, 2013. That means the computer was wiped. It would have taken place after the so-called delayed premiership. So will the Premier, will the government house leader stop playing games, tell us the truth, and get to the bottom of this scandal right now, or call a judicial inquiry like I did? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, again, it is clear the OPP are interested in one individual, the former chief of staff, the former Premier for events that happen under his watch. But just to remind the member, let me quote the operators of www.bluedraft.com the member for Nippian Carlton is Lisa McLeod and Chris Fraggett would like to sincerely apologize to Maureen Murphy-Macon and Rick Morgan for wrongfully implicating them in the story in January 2004. We are sorry for the negative perception that may have been created since then and how it may have harmed the solid reputation and high integrity of both Ms. Murphy-Macon and Mr. Morgan. We admit that our sources were not reliable and proper accuracy and verification procedures were un-followed prudently in publishing this story. Mr. Speaker, she's done it once. It's time for her to do it again. Thank you. Any questions? A member from Nippian Carlton. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Ontarians deserve answers about the $1.1 billion scandal and they deserve answers about the liberal's subsequent email deletion and data destruction. Now liberal insiders who the OPPC are behind the mass email deletions and computer wiping in the Premier's office are playing games with the committee. Peter Feis insists he can't come to Toronto and he won't be available for a whole month and weeks after the dates being thrown around for a budget. We think he has important information and we want him here as soon as possible. Have any members of the Premier's party been in touch with Peter Feist about the timing of his testimony? A question. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, it is up to the committee to determine which witnesses to call. It's up to the committee clerk, of course, to deal with those witnesses and try to schedule them. There is, Mr. Speaker, as you are aware, procedures in place of committees cannot obtain a witness's testimony, Mr. Speaker. This is all work for the committee. But I've got to tell you, Mr. Speaker, since we're on the topic of the committee how disappointed we are that we tried once again, Mr. Speaker, I believe it's the 14th time I'm not making that figure up to ask the PC witnesses to come before the committee on Thursday, Mr. Speaker, so they could talk about what I would have thought would have been the member from Nipissing will withdraw. Thank you. Carry on. Such questions as when they in the last campaign promised that if they were elected they'd cancel the gas plants, whether they asked about costing, about the policy analysis that was done about the interaction that they had with the Leader of the Opposition for 14 times, Mr. Speaker, and yet they refused to come. It's very frustrating on this side of the House, but again, Mr. Speaker, it's up to the committee. Thank you. Supplementary. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Laura Miller, a former Deputy Chief of Staff in the Premier's office has timed her visit to the committee to fall on a possible budget date announcement. And just like the cynical timing of the tanning bed legislation, which we learned from internal liberal law emails was made, which was made public last summer, the Liberals thought would make, quote, a fabulous headline in Saturday's papers just to distract from scandal, this seems like another attempt to change the channel. The timing again looks convenient for the Liberals. Did Ontario Liberals help Ms. Miller pick her date? Mr. Speaker, it is a case where they can't take a guess for an answer. Mr. Speaker has asked for certain people to come forward and he mentions one witness who has made herself available and I understand obviously from media reports she is in British Columbia and she is she's coming forward and testifying before the committee and I think we should allow the committee to handle that work and handle that testimony. But again, Mr. Speaker, you know, if the member is frustrated we are frustrated. As I say, we have tried 14 times. I'll give you one example, Mr. Speaker. The candidate for the PCs in the last gentleman by the name of Zoran Churchin he's actually been re-nominated and will be running again. We've called him 14 times, Mr. Speaker. We want to know who approved the robo call scripts, the flyers and campaign announcements promising to cancel the plan. We want to know about their costing during their campaign promises. I believe he was present when the leader of the opposition made his famous YouTube. We want to hear more about that. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Government Services. Minister, when Premier Wynn announced the open government initiative last October, she made a commitment to make Ontario the most open and transparent government in the country. Our goal is to change the way citizens think about and interact with their government and ultimately to rethink government so that it works better for the people of Ontario. An integral part of our open government plan is open data. Like governments around the world, Ontario generates and collects huge amounts of data, facts and statistics. Mr. Speaker, a key open government commitment is to make the data we collect available to the public in machine readable formats. Minister, can you tell my constituents what is being done to make data more open in Ontario? Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I want to thank the member not only for the question, but for the important work that he's done in terms of open government. Mr. Speaker, making government data open by default, that is the collections of statistics and other data that governments collect is an important part of our open government plan. We launched our open data catalogue in 2012 which contains 178 sets of data available for the public to access online. In consultation with every ministry across the government, we've developed a master list of over a thousand data sets that could be posted online in our catalogue. Yesterday we announced that instead of the government deciding which data sets to undergo the process of making them machine readable and release them, we will ask the people of Ontario to tell us their open data priorities by using an online voting tool. Mr. Speaker, with the kids call crowdsourcing. Thank you. Supplementary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Minister. Thank you for taking the opportunity to engage the public and open government and to find out what's important to them. Mr. Speaker, Ontario has taken an exciting step on the road toward open data as the first government in Canada to develop an organization-wide data inventory like this for public voting. As data topics like traffic, student achievement and healthcare wait times become accessible citizens and businesses with innovative ideas will find solutions to help people in their everyday lives and encourage economic growth throughout the province. Mr. Speaker, Minister can you tell us more about this open data inventory and how it will work and what about safeguards for things like privacy and confidentiality? Thank you, Minister. Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Preparing and posting data sets is a complex process. Obviously we must assess data to protect privacy, security and confidentiality. We must prepare it in an open machine readable format and review data to ensure accuracy and accessibility. This process can take between several weeks or even up to a year depending on the volume and complexity of the data. That's why we want the public to help us focus our efforts so we can prepare the most sought-after data for priority posting. As far as privacy protection goes, as you know, Mr. Speaker, we take that very seriously. Ontario will release data in a responsible way that protects the privacy of its citizens. The inventory does not include data containing personal or confidential information. Legal copyright and security restrictions are protected and public safety is prioritized above all. Thank you. New question, the member from Nipissing. Thank you and good morning, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Yesterday you announced yet another transit plan, but you still refuse to tell Ontarians how you'll pay for it. Well, your Minister of Transportation let the cat out of the bag. He said the month... Your Minister of Transportation said the money will come from, quote, everything from healthcare to education. Really, Premier? That's your idea? Is that in addition to raising taxes on businesses and income earners over 75,000? Premier, it's clear you have no plan. As with everything else that you announced, you can't explain how you're going to pay for it. Premier, don't Ontarians deserve better than that. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, I know that the Minister of Transportation is going to want to speak to the supplementary, but I just want to say how thrilled I am that we are able to bring a plan, we will bring the plan forward in our budget, Mr. Speaker, to invest $29 billion in transportation infrastructure, including transit, over the next 10 years, Mr. Speaker, $15 billion. So we are very clear where the money is going to come from, Mr. Speaker. We're very clear that there will be some repurposing of the gas tax and HST, Mr. Speaker. We have said clearly that we want to get the most out of our assets, Mr. Speaker, and we have said that there will be new revenue tools in the budget. We will bring that plan to Mr. Speaker, and I hope that the leader of the opposition and his colleagues will support that transit plan, Mr. Speaker. The Minister for Rural Affairs will remember from Bruce Greco and sound will come to order. My sympathies. Supplementary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, other than your cuts to health care and education, we're still waiting for you to explain how you're going to balance your budget. We've disclosed the $4.5 billion budget gap which you kept from the financial community. The Bank of Canada said revenues would fall and now we heard your revenues are $5 billion less. Budget documents show you're going on a $5.7 billion spending spree. Everything you announce involves raising taxes and adding more debt. Our leader Tim Houdak has a plan he unveiled yesterday that makes transit and roads a priority without raising taxes. Why are you insisting on raising taxes and taking money out of health care and education when we've given you a plan to do it without raising taxes? Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite had listened to the whole remark that the minister of transportation made yesterday, he would have realized that the minister was clear that there is money that is being repurposed, Mr. Speaker, but that does not mean that we will be cancelling programs in education or health. Unlike the party opposite, Mr. Speaker, the member for Etobicoke Lakeshore said in their plan people will have to choose between full-day kindergarten and transportation infrastructure, Mr. Speaker. That is a ridiculous choice. That is not a choice that we would ever put field transit are actually misguided as well as magic, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. New question to the member for Nicobel. Member for Nicobel. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the minister of health and long-term care. Speaker, this morning in the paper for all to see is an expose commenting the growing trend of prescribing antipsychotic drugs to long-term care residents in some long-term care homes over half of the residents are on these drugs that are often dangerous drugs. The consequences of excessive prescribing of off-label use of antipsychotic drugs can and has been deadly. Can the minister explain why she has allowed this problem to balloon into crisis levels? Thank you, minister of health and long-term care. Well, thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member opposite for the question. There is no question that the care and safety of residents in long-term care homes is of paramount importance. And I must underline that doctors must prescribe medications appropriately and only as necessary. However, there is recognition across the long-term care sector and within government that residents with challenging behaviors should receive non-pharmacological care whenever possible. And, Speaker, that's why we are investing in behavioral supports Ontario. Behavioral supports Ontario is really showing enormous potential in the training. It encourages non-pharmaceutical interventions to address aggressive behavior. We've hired 600 full-time staff through BSO. They're working with residents and providing real results in long-term care homes, Speaker. I'll speak more in the supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. Well, for years long-term care homes have alerted this government of this growing problem of coping with the growing numbers of seniors that suffer from dementia. They have told the Ministry of the Rising Use of Antipsychotic Drugs and that the strand was continuing. Way back in 2007, the Ontario Auditor General released a report that alerted the government to this problem as well as issues about lack of consent for the use of those drugs. Can the Minister explain why this problem isn't being taken more seriously by this government as the use of antipsychotic drugs continue to rise exponentially in our long-term care homes? Thank you, Minister. Speaker, if a drug is needed needs to be prescribed to a patient under the Long-Term Care Homes Act a drug cannot be given to a resident unless it has been prescribed by those who are allowed to do so under the Regular Health Professionals Act. Before a treatment can be given to a resident consent must be given to by the individual receiving the treatment and if that person is unable to give consent then the substitute decision maker must do so, Speaker. A resident in a long-term care home cannot be restrained by use of a drug unless immediate action is necessary to prevent serious bodily harm to themselves or others. Speaker, I acknowledge that the more work needs to be done on this issue and everyone who works within the long-term sector agrees that more needs to be done. We are investing in behavioral supports Ontario to support non-pharmaceutical control of behaviors that could cause harm to residents and others. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. My question for the Minister of Community and Social Services Speaker, in 2004 a government launched a transformation to Ontario Developmental Services. This transformation emphasised the community inclusion and increased independence for individuals. However, many members in this House, including myself heard from families telling us that we need to do more to support families affected by developmental disability. And I know the Minister has been a strong vocal advocate on this cause and has spent the last year in consulting to improve developmental services. Speaker, as a proud member of Select Committee on Developmental Services I have traveled across the province with the committee and heard from families affected by developmental services. We heard from parents who urgently need respite care or residential support for their children as they grow older. Last Friday Minister, you have made an exciting announcement. Speaker, through you to the Minister can he please share with the health what the proposed plan for developmental services. Thank you. I would be delighted to do so and I just want to thank the member from Scarborough Aging Court for both her question and her own fierce advocacy on this front. Speaker, the member is absolutely correct about what we have heard from families across the province. That's why I was proud to recently announce a bold plan. I am delighted to share with the House this morning that our government plans to invest some $810 million over the next three years in support of developmental services. In total the proposed new investment would represent the largest single infusion of support to the developmental services sector ever. This is the next step Mr. Premier in our plan. It's about giving people with developmental challenges the tools they need to be full citizens in our society. Thank you, Speaker. I want to thank the Minister for his answer but also congratulate him on this milestone and achievement. I know many families from across the province appreciate his leadership and dedication to take these next new steps to improve and support families affected by developmental services. The proposed new money is truly unprecedented commitment to developmental services in Ontario and the magnitude of this announcement cannot be overstated Mr. Speaker, I know families in my riding are delighted to receive this announcement. They also would like to know what is the new investment would do to help support them. Speaker, to you, to the Minister, can he please inform the House what are the goals of this proposed investment and how would this new money be allocated. Thank you. I've spent a lot of work Mr. Speaker. I'm delighted to say that this new money will wipe out over the next 100 years. Over four years it will support an additional 13,000 individuals through the passport program including 4,000 new individuals we anticipate coming on stream. It will eliminate the wait list for special services at home just within two years and will help 8,000 children and their families. Our plan will provide residential support for more than 1,400 new individuals strengthening our ability to respond to people in special needs. Furthermore, more than 4,000 people would receive help to plan a major transition. Speaker, I want to thank the Premier for being so supportive of this initiative for her on-going encouragement and support in their leadership. No question. The member from left-hand camp can go. Thank you very much. My question this morning is to the Premier. I have a question why your Chief of Staff, Mr Tom Tien, failed to appear on the seconded list despite his annual salary for 2013 of over $344,000. Premier, today your Chief of Staff is in the news once again this time joining six other Liberal entities and allegedly violating the Elections Finances Act. Section 29 which states clearly that no political party, constituency shall directly or indirectly accept contributions from any person residing outside of Ontario. Premier, of course I'm referring to the seven donations totaling nearly $11,000 made by Mr James Berry, a resident of Quebec and the union boss for your friends the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Premier, will you direct your Chief of Staff to immediately return the nearly $1,000 that was illegally donated to his own Liberal campaign in Beaches East York. Can you see it please? Thank you, Premier. And I know that the Minister of Training College and Universities has something to add to this but I just want to make sure that the rules around political donations are really important, Mr Speaker. They're a very important part of our democratic process. Today's article is by the member from Stourmont Dundas, South Carolina, Gary. It's my understanding, Mr Speaker, that elections Ontario has been asked to look into questions about particular donations. I understand that the individual in question has, he said that Excuse me. Even when I eyed him and he continued I will ask the member from Bruce Gray, Owen Sound to come to order. This will be his last chance. I understand that the individual involved has said that the election has been done, Mr Speaker. But we will work with elections Ontario if they have any questions Mr Speaker. We will absolutely work with elections Ontario. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Well, Mr Speaker, back to the Premier. Premier, in 2009 you're minister of community safety and correctional services and the past President of the Ontario Liberal party accepted allegedly illegal donations from Mr Barry and $5,400 in illegal donations as well. But, Premier, that's not all. To reward Mr. Berry, your government appointed him to the Board of Governors for the Ontario College of Drates. Donated from Mr. Berry, be returned, including any illegal donations accepted by your Chief of Staff and your Minister for Community Safety and Correctional Services, and will you take the necessary steps to remove your Quebec resident, Mr. Berry, from the Board of Governors of the Ontario College of Drates. The incorrect information in the member's question is just unbelievable. Mr. Speaker, a complaint was made to Elections Ontario. Elections Ontario are looking into it. The allegation appears to be that there was a clerical error made. I'm sure whatever was done will be corrected. But, Mr. Speaker, here we go again. We have James Berry, who's the President of the IBAW. He represents 14,000 electrical workers across this province. When you smear that gentleman's reputation, Mr. Speaker, do you smear the reputation? The member from Synco North is warned. Mr. Speaker, I think it's more important that people answer their reputation. Now, we're in a business where we're used to those kind of smears coming at us. I don't think it's fair for people outside of that community chamber to be... Thank you. Time's up. New question, the member from Trinity East, but I... My question is to the Premier. After wasting a year dithering on transit, the Premier made a dozen or so announcements yesterday. So many, it's hard to take them seriously. But one announcement stood out. She said she would fund transit by shuffling, sorry, repurposing gas tax money. The Premier used to attack the leader of the opposition, and she did it again today for threatening to fund transit by sacrificing health care and education. Remember that? But when asked last night where this gas tax money would be repurposed from, her own Minister of Transportation said, quote, everything from health care to education. My question for the Premier is, how much will your government cut from health care and education to share hateful transit? Mr. Speaker, first... Remember from that, I've come to order. Mr. Speaker, I would hope that the member for Nipissing and the member for Trinity Spadina, who I both consider friends, would offer an apology today. The reason I think an apology is appropriate, Mr. Speaker, because if you listen to the tape, what it actually says is a direct question, what does general revenue fund? And I said everything from health care to education, which is actually the truth. I would not, I would not to either friend, including my friend from Nipissing, who I consider a friend, I look through the eye right now, who tells me he doesn't like that kind of politics, is now proffering that kind of politics. And if you want... Thank you. Supplementary. So first the government floated a scheme to privatize and tow our highways. Then they talked about raising the HST and gas taxes. Then they denied there were even in favor of tolls or the HST or gas tax increases and instead proposed a fire sale of public public assets. And now the latest plan of the week is to pay for transit by reallocating... The minister of citizenship and immigration can hide his face. I still see it stop. Carry on. And now the latest plan of the week is to pay for transit by reallocating or repurposing money from health care and education budgets. When it comes to funding transit, the government is making it up as it goes along. We still have no idea where the money is going to come from. What services are we cutting? Which taxes are you raising? And what is the government's plan? Mr. Speaker, coming from a party whose municipal wing can't vote for a single new tax increase that they've been given that they asked for. Coming from a party that has no transportation plan for highways, transit or roads. Coming from a party that can't articulate a single source of revenue to support transit. Not a single source. No plan, no credible plan, no costed plan. And no apology for saying things on the record that you know are not true tells people in Ontario a whole bunch about your character and a whole bunch about your lack of leadership, Mr. Speaker. We are quite happy to ask you one last time to take this historic moment. I'll make that decision. The member from the PN Carlton will come to order. New question. Excuse me. The member from Durham will withdraw. The member from Mrs. Saga Streetsville. Thank you very much, Speaker. This question is to the Minister of the Environment. Minister, next Tuesday, April the 22nd is Earth Day. Earth Day is the largest environmental event in the world. More than 6 million Canadians from all ages will come to order. Every school-aged child will participate in an Earth Day activity in their respective communities. When Earth Day started in 1970, North Americans drove gas guzzling cars that drank leaded gasoline. Belching smokestacks were then seen as a sign of a strong economy instead of an environmental shame. Since 1970, Earth Day has been a chance to raise our awareness of how this planet is the only home we'll have and focus on how we can protest. Would the Minister explain how our government is doing its part to protect the environment here in Ontario? Thank you, Minister of the Environment. That's an excellent question, Mr. Speaker. I know it was the question of the member for Leeds. Grenville has been stolen, but we know with Earth Week only a week away, I'd like to remind the House that our government has made the environment a priority again in Ontario. Ontario's elimination of coal-fired electricity generation is, as everyone knows, the single largest greenhouse gas reduction initiative in North America. Federal ministers even use that in their international arguments. Additionally, initiatives have been taken to reduce toxic and our ecosystems, to reduce waste, to protect the Lake Simcoe, to clean up contamination, to protect green space, and to invest in science and transportation. We've created opportunities for individuals and communities to become involved in the protection and the restoration of the Great Lakes to the Great Lakes Guardian Community Fund. This government takes the help of the Environment very seriously. We encourage members opposite to work with us to pass our important proposed pieces of legislation and further protect the environment for future generations. Minister, conserving our Great Lakes water supplies and protecting our water quality is essential to ensuring the health of our families, our communities, and our economy. It's essential that Ontario provide communities with the tools to ensure that the Great Lakes will continue to supply our drinking water, power our towns and cities, irrigate our farms, enable sport fishing, provide recreation and relaxation on the water for Ontario families and visitors. The Great Lakes Guardian Community Fund provides many ways to help preserve and protect the Great Lakes. Would the minister please share some ways in which this is done? Mr. Speaker, for all members of the House, the Great Lakes Guardian Community Fund is designed to support local community actions to protect and restore wetlands, beaches, shorelines, and coastal areas by offering modest grants for non-profit groups for cleanup projects. Since we launched this program two years ago, we have awarded more than three million dollars to 156 groups to make improvements in their corner of the Great Lakes. Here are a few examples of improving habitat for native fish and plant, more than 2,000 native trees and shrubs, for the help of more than 80 community volunteers in the Ajax Pickering Area. In Burlington, I was pleased to work with 100 volunteers to improve the coastal environment of Lake Ontario's Beachway Park by planting native grasses, shrubs and trees, removing invasive species, and picking up litter. Additionally, community cleanup events took place in Manitoulin Island. The deadline for non-profit groups to seek funding for the projects is upcoming it's May 9th. I encourage all communities to seek this funding and to help clean up their portion. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Community and Social Services. Speaker Friday, the BLT of the Budget League team and the Minister announced an $810 million over three years to alleviate some weightness for developmental services. Ontario invests $1.7 billion in developmental services, a 63% increase since 2003. But here's what you're applauding for. You're applauding for a decade of investment that still hasn't improved your ministry's performance. Under Liberal Rain, reliance on OW and ODSP has grown by 50% and 40%. The problems are so pervasive, especially for people with disabilities, a committee was struck to help the minister do his job. Minister, why does your party think spending more money is the only solution when it's smart for you in 10 years? Minister, I'm amazed. Actually, I'm almost speechless with the question. Coming from a party that went in office tried to balance their budget on the backs of the poor by cutting 23% from social assistance and developmental services who didn't increase the minimum wage, who didn't increase OW or ODSP once in their tenure, who voted against every initiative this government's taken since we came to office. We don't have anything at all to learn from you over there, sir, I say. Thank you, Speaker. The minister's got to do much better than go back in time. Minister, the truth is, Comstock is a neglected portfolio. The quintessentially liberal cop-out to the developmental select committee is to throw more money at services to avoid doing the hard work to actually improve them. The quintessentially liberal response to the 2012 Lankan Shake report, just like Drummond, was pretending that it didn't even happen. Minister, the most vulnerable people in our province won't be bought and they won't be ignored. Why will you respond to the Lankan Shake recommendations and under attack to actually improve service delivery for people with developmental disabilities for real? Mr. Speaker, that's all that's all we've been doing since the Shake Lankan report came up. And speaking of stakeholders, we circled back with over 280 groups to get their feedback. And I want to tell you, you know, the people that the member opposites talking about being so unhappy, that was reflected on Friday with the 600 plus emails and tweets that we received and the fact that it was trending nationally right across this country as being the single most important investment in the developmental services sector since we came to office in 2003. I'm proud of that. Time doesn't stand still. The answer isn't all money. The answer is investing in ensuring that people with unique challenges have all the opportunities to fully participate in our society that so many of us take for granted. We're going to make sure that happens. New question? The member from Moelyn. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Speaker, the Brantford expositor recently published a series of articles on the Ministry of Health inspections at long-term care facilities in the Brantford area. The newspaper found and reported is very disturbing. The expositor has learned that long-term care facilities in the Brantford area have not had a full inspection for almost five years in spite of the government's promises that all homes will get this level of oversight. Does the minister think this failure is acceptable? And I have committed that all homes will have received a rigorous inspection by the end of this calendar year. We have hired, I believe, an additional 90 inspectors who have been trained and are doing that work now. I stand by my earlier commitment that every long-term care home in this province will have had that rigorous quality inspection by the end of this calendar year and annually thereafter. Thank you. Supplementary. Speaker, here's what the expositor reported on the ministry's website. The revamped ministry website, which aims to ensure transparency and protect residents, is so difficult to navigate and evaluate that most people find it impossible to get a true picture of problem homes. There's no direct way to compare one home to another nor to compare home to the provincial average. The ministry is not providing people with a clear report about the condition of long-term care homes and whether or not they're meeting the legislative requirements. Minister, do you think the seniors in Brantford deserve better? Well, thank you, Speaker. Well, what I can reiterate, Speaker, is that we are committed to improved inspections, more rigorous inspections. Results posted online, Speaker. In 2003, there were 59 inspectors working in the province of Ontario. We now have 180 inspectors with additional recruitment underway, including 90 new inspectors hired since September 2013. Since the implementation of the Long-Term Care Homes Act, there have been over 8,200 inspections conducted. I have committed, as I said earlier, that every home in this province will have that RQI inspection by the end of this year and annually thereafter. Thank you very much, Speaker. Today my question is for the minister responsible for seniors. Minister, you recently visited my wonderful riding of Vaughn with the premier to attend a seniors' roundtable. We hosted more than 600 seniors at this particular event, Speaker, who came from over 100 different seniors' groups. And I want to take a quick moment to pay tribute to both Mario, Ferry, Tony, Paretha, and the rest of the organizing subcommittee that worked so hard to pull this together. This particular roundtable, Speaker, provided the seniors from my community with the opportunity to hear presentations of the disgust of a variety of topics that are important to them and to their families. Speaker, I'm still receiving phone calls from constituents praising this event and telling me they can't wait for another seniors' healthy seniors' roundtable to take place in Vaughn. At this event, the minister discussed the issue of social isolation, felt by many seniors across the province. Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on some of the ways in which our government is addressing this important? Question, minister responsible for seniors? Thank you very much, Speaker. Indeed, it was a very impressive sight to see some 600 more seniors, and I have to say congratulations to the member from Vaughn because it didn't work very hard in bringing the seniors over there. Seniors, what was more impressive is that the seniors, they came very well engaged, and they were ready with their many questions from pensions to realty taxes. And I have to say, Speaker, in answering the question of the member that the Ontario Action Plan for Seniors, it's the framework within which we have a number of other plans which serve our seniors. And the last one, Speaker, it's the wonderful and I'm so elated to say that I've been receiving extremely well by our seniors' organizations, and it is the seniors' community grant program, Speaker. It's so successful that we are continuing supplementary. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the minister not only for his response and not only for being in bond a couple of Fridays ago for this roundtable, but I want to thank the minister for his exemplary work on behalf of seniors right across the province of Ontario. Minister, during your remarks at the particular roundtable event, you provided attendees with an update regarding the implementation and the protections offered under the Retirement Homes Act. For the first time in Ontario, Seniors living in retirement homes have strong protections under this act. Speaker, can the minister please inform the house on the status of the risk officer and complaints review officer? These are two very important accountability and transparency provisions in the act that help to further our residents' protections. Thank you, minister. Indeed, Speaker, it is comforting to know, Speaker, that the Retirement Home Act offers our seniors in retirement homes very strong protection under our provincial law. With the beginning of the year, we moved into phase five of the Retirement Home Act, Speaker. We have now in place the risk officer assessing the effectiveness of the Retirement Home Regulatory Authority, including care and safety standards and residents right. The risk officer and the complaint review officer, Speaker, prepared public reports, statement and residents have now access to complaints resolution process as well. The risk officer and the complaint risk officer provide accountability and transparency, Speaker, and furthermore they provide more protection for our seniors living in retirement homes. There being no deferred votes, this house stands recessed until 3 p.m. this afternoon.